Changes in Vigorous Physical Activity and Incident Diabetes in Male Runners
- Paul T. Williams, PHD
- From the Life Sciences Division, Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, California
- Address correspondence and reprint requests to Paul T. Williams, PhD, Ernest Orlando Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Life Sciences Division, 1 Cyclotron Rd., Berkeley, CA 94720. E-mail: ptwilliams{at}lbl.gov
Abstract
OBJECTIVE—We examined the relationship between changes in reported vigorous exercise and self-reported physician-diagnosed diabetes in 25,988 active men.
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—The dose-response relationship between changes in reported vigorous exercise (running distance, change in kilometers per week) and self-reported physician-diagnosed diabetes was followed prospectively for 7.8 ± 1.8 years (means ± SD).
RESULTS—Logistic regression analyses showed that the log odds for diabetes declined significantly in relation to men's change in running distance (coefficient ± SE: −0.012 ± 0.004, P < 0.01), which remained significant when adjusted for BMI (−0.018 ± 0.003, P < 0.0001). The decline in the log odds for diabetes was related to the distance run at the end of follow-up when adjusted for baseline distance, with (−0.024 ± 0.005, P < 0.0001) or without (−0.027 ± 0.005, P < 0.0001) adjustment for BMI. Baseline distance was unrelated to diabetes incidence when adjusted for the distance at the end of follow-up. Compared with men who ran <8 km/week at the end of follow-up, incidence rates in those who ran ≥8 km/week were 95% lower between 35 and 44 years of age (P < 0.0001), 92% lower between 45 and 54 (P < 0.0001), 87% lower between 55 and 64 (P < 0.0001), and 46% lower between 65 and 75 (P = 0.30). For the subset of 6,208 men who maintained the same running distance during follow-up (±5 km/week), the log odds for diabetes declined with weekly distance run (−0.024 ± 0.010, P = 0.02) but not when adjusted for BMI (−0.005 ± 0.010, P = 0.65).
CONCLUSIONS—Vigorous exercise significantly reduces diabetes incidence, due in part to the prevention of age-related weight gain and in part to other exercise effects.
Footnotes
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Published ahead of print at http://care.diabetesjournals.org on 17 August 2007. DOI: 10.2337/dc07-1189.
A table elsewhere in this issue shows conventional and Système International (SI) units and conversion factors for many substances.
The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked “advertisement” in accordance with 18 U.S.C Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.
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- Accepted August 9, 2007.
- Received June 21, 2007.
- DIABETES CARE
