Physical exercise and type 1 diabetes mellitus: An narrative review

Diabetes is considered a growing public health problem, related to the possibility of developing cardiovascular disease and other derived diseases. On the other hand, physical exercise represents an excellent non-pharmacological treatment for people with this pathology. The aim of this article is to analyze the most recent evidence on the effects of aerobic exercise, resisted exercise and high-intensity intermittent exercise on different health variables in type 1 diabetic adults. Thus, a bibliographic search was carried out in the PubMed and SPORTDiscus databases, obtaining a total of 321 articles; after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 10 articles were selected. With respect to aerobic exercise (AE), it can be performed, but with more care and vigilance compared to other more intense activity, as well as being attentive to blood glucose levels before, during and after it, and even after some hours have passed, despite some contradictory results, it shows a more marked tendency to hypoglycemia, the positive thing is that an increase in VO2max has been evidenced. In relation to resisted exercise and HIIT, most findings show positive effects on glycemic control and HbA1c levels, including increased aerobic fitness, muscle strength, as well as prevention of pathologies related to and derived from diabetes mellitus.