Diabetes and exercise

Abstract

According to the National Commission on Diabetes, approximately ten million Americans have diabetes known and unknown. Diabetes, being controllable but nor curable, makes it mandatory for the diabetic to live with the condition on the best possible terms. In the past, the main emphasis has been placed on two of the three elements for diabetic control: diet and medication, with exercise coming in a distant third. Practical medical advice on exercise for diabetics is nearly nonexistent. Books on diabetes either casually refer to it and its relationship to hypoglycemia or fail to mention it at all. Very little in this regard exists to help the diabetic with his or her day-do-day control of blood sugar levels. Diabetes, known as 'The Great Imitator' affects almost every organ of the body and complications are many and varied, as explained below.