Melbourne researchers’ type 1 diabetes trial to probe sitting breaks as treatment

DOCTORS may one day prescribe people with type 1 diabetes breaks from sitting if a Melbourne trial finds office workers doing light exercise helps reduce the risk of serious complications.

SLASHING the amount of time spent sitting will be investigated as a new way to reduce the risk of people with type 1 diabetes developing serious complications.

Desk-bound workers in Melbourne will be asked to do activities like squatting or calf raises for three minutes every 30 minutes to see if it can help them better control their blood glucose levels.

The trial by researchers at Melbourne’s Baker Institute aims to establish whether taking regular breaks and doing bouts of light exercise can improve blood glucose control.

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Baker Institute researchers are embarking on a new pilot study to see whether breaking up prolonged sitting can improve the health of people with type 1 diabetes. Picture: iStock

It’s hoped it will help stave off some of the complications of the auto-immune condition such as eye, kidney and heart diseases and nerve damage.

More than 120,000 Australians have type 1 diabetes, which cannot be prevented or cured.

It involves the immune system attacking itself, destroying cells that help the body produce insulin which is required to process sugar and create energy.

“Having optimal blood glucose control is important in reducing the risk of complications in the future in people with type 1 diabetes,” the institute’s head of physical activity research, Professor David Dunstan, said.

“But we know many people are now subject to workplace environments that require spending huge amounts of time sitting and we don’t know what that does to their blood glucose control over a 6-8 hour period.”

The trial will assess whether the group who engages in these activities such as squats, knee lifts and calf raises, has improved glycaemic control, blood pressure and endothelial function.

“The whole idea is to switch on those large muscles that are turned off when people are sitting.”

He said it wasn’t going to be a replacement for insulin but, depending on the outcome of the trial, might be used to enhance the effects or reduce the amount of insulin required.

Researchers want to recruit people who are aged 25 to 65, have type 1 diabetes and have been on an insulin pump for at least six months.

They will need to attend three clinic visits over three weeks, wear physical activity and blood-glucose monitors and keep a record of their food and drink intake.

More details: baker.edu.au/research/clinical-trials/target-study

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