Short, Frequent Walks Improve Cardiovascular Profile in T1D

TOPLINE:

Breaking up long sitting periods with short, frequent bouts of light-intensity walks may reduce the increased levels of postprandial vascular inflammatory biomarkers seen in people with type 1 diabetes (T1D).

METHODOLOGY:

A sedentary lifestyle, prevalent in patients with T1D, increases the risk for cardiovascular complications, but it is unclear whether reversing sedentary behavior modulates the thromboinflammatory milieu.The SIT-LESS study, a randomized crossover trial, included 32 people (mean age, 27.9 years; 17 women) with T1D who were on a stable insulin regimen and were classified as “inactive” by international guidelines on physical activity (TAKEAWAY: Prolonged sitting led to postprandial increase in TNF-alpha, IL-1 beta, PAI-1, and fibrinogen levels over time. In contrast, hourly 3-minute walks decreased these elevations, with all biomarker levels lower at 7 hours than at baseline (P <.001 for all hours in people with prolonged sitting tnf-alpha il-1 beta pai-1 and fibrinogen levels increased by respectively who undertook short walking breaks the same markers dropped high insulin resistance had a greater average reduction difference vs pg p level g than did those low resistance.>IN PRACTICE:

“Interrupting prolonged sitting with short, frequent bouts of light-intensity walking activity attenuates the deleterious rise in postprandial vascular-inflammatory parameters associated with prolonged sitting,” the authors concluded.

SOURCE:

The study, led by Nawaz Z. Safdar, MBChB, Leeds Institute of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, United Kingdom, was published online in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism.

LIMITATIONS:

This was a single-center study that excluded participants with overt complications. Whether the study was sufficiently powered to detect changes in the inflammatory marker levels is unclear. Moreover, the study could not provide insights on mechanisms supporting the findings owing to the short observational window.