Exercise Combo Helps Control Diabetes

A combination of aerobic exercise and strength training can provide enormous benefits for  people with Type 2 diabetes, new research shows. Although both types of activity helped control blood sugar in patients with adult-onset diabetes, combining them led to almost twice as much improvement as either did alone. Previously, some scientists thought resistance exercises might be harmful to diabetics.

"This is spectacular news," one expert tells USA Today. "Exercise can lower blood sugar level almost as much as any single pill you can take." The reduction in blood sugar observed in participants who did both kinds of exercise corresponds to a 15% to 20% drop in heart attack risk and a 25% to 40% decrease in kidney disease risk. (More diabetes stories.)