Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2019 Dec 6:10:199-207.
doi: 10.2147/OAJSM.S149257. eCollection 2019.

The Athlete with Type 1 Diabetes: Transition from Case Reports to General Therapy Recommendations

Jane E Yardley  1   2   3   4
Affiliations
Review

The Athlete with Type 1 Diabetes: Transition from Case Reports to General Therapy Recommendations

Jane E Yardley. Open Access J Sports Med. .

Abstract

Fear of hypoglycemia is a common barrier to exercise and physical activity for individuals with type 1 diabetes. While some of the earliest studies in this area involved only one or two participants, the link between exercise, exogenous insulin, and hypoglycemia was already clear, with the only suggested management strategies being to decrease insulin dosage and/or consume carbohydrates before and after exercise. Over the past 50 years, a great deal of knowledge has been developed around the impact of different types and intensities of exercise on blood glucose levels in this population. Recent decades have also seen the development of technologies such as continuous glucose monitors, faster-acting insulins and commercially available insulin pumps to allow for the real-time observation of interstitial glucose levels, and more precise adjustments to insulin dosage before, during and after activity. As such, there are now evidence-based exercise and physical activity guidelines for individuals with type 1 diabetes. While the risk of hypoglycemia has not been completely eliminated, therapy recommendations have evolved considerably. This review discusses the evolution of the knowledge and the technology related to type 1 diabetes and exercise that have allowed this evolution to take place.

Keywords: blood glucose; carbohydrate; continuous glucose monitoring; exercise; insulin; physical activity.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Dr. Yardley has received speaker’s fees from Dexcom Canada, and in-kind research support from Medtronic Canada, Dexcom Canada, LifeScan Canada, Abbott Nutrition Canada, and Ascensia Diabetes Canada, and reports no other conflicts of interest in this work.

References

    1. Schram MT, Chaturvedi N, Fuller JH, Stehouwer CD, Group EPCS. Pulse pressure is associated with age and cardiovascular disease in type 1 diabetes: the Eurodiab Prospective Complications Study. J Hypertens. 2003;21(11):2035–2044. doi:10.1097/00004872-200311000-00012 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Soedamah-Muthu SS, Fuller JH, Mulnier HE, Raleigh VS, Lawrenson RA, Colhoun HM. High risk of cardiovascular disease in patients with type 1 diabetes in the UK: a cohort study using the general practice research database. Diabetes Care. 2006;29(4):798–804. doi:10.2337/diacare.29.04.06.dc05-1433 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Larsson SC, Wallin A, Hakansson N, Stackelberg O, Back M, Wolk A. Type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus and incidence of seven cardiovascular diseases. Int J Cardiol. 2018;262:66–70. doi:10.1016/j.ijcard.2018.03.099 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Secrest AM, Becker DJ, Kelsey SF, Laporte RE, Orchard TJ. Cause-specific mortality trends in a large population-based cohort with long-standing childhood-onset type 1 diabetes. Diabetes. 2010;59(12):3216–3222. doi:10.2337/db10-0862 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Jansson RW, Hufthammer KO, Krohn J. Diabetic retinopathy in type 1 diabetes patients in Western Norway. Acta Ophthalmol. 2018;96(5):465–474. doi:10.1111/aos.2018.96.issue-5 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources