A study finds that hyperglycemia makes it more difficult for people to increase their aerobic capacity. Regular aerobic exercise provides various health benefits, which heighten as a person increases their aerobic capacity. Doctors recommend this form of exercise to help control diabetes, but people with diabetes often have trouble improving this capacity.
Hyperglycemia, or higher-than-normal levels of blood sugar, may prevent people from increasing their aerobic capacity and gaining the health benefits that this type of exercise can provide.
The researchers have observed this diminished effect of aerobic exercise in humans with chronic hyperglycemia when blood sugar levels are within the prediabetes range, as well as in mouse models. “The idea behind this study was to see: If we induce high blood sugar in mice, will we impair their ability to improve their aerobic fitness?”.
In designing the study, the researchers hoped to learn more about the mechanisms behind this potential effect, in an effort to find new ways to help people with hyperglycemia boost their fitness levels.
Initially, the increased blood sugar levels in two groups of mice:
The first group received a Western diet high in saturated fat and sugar. The mice became hyperglycemic and gained weight.
The second group consumed a diet with less sugar and fat and did not gain weight. However, these mice acquired hyperglycemia as a result of modifications that caused them to produce less insulin.
“The idea behind this study was to see: If we induce high blood sugar in mice, will we impair their ability to improve their aerobic fitness?” says Prof. Lessard. In designing the study, the researchers hoped to learn more about the mechanisms behind this potential effect, in an effort to find new ways to help people with hyperglycemia boost their fitness levels.
A study investigated the effects of going to bed 2 hours later than normal but getting up at the usual time. It found that people not only became more impulsive and prone to mistakes the following day but also experienced a flattening of normally pleasurable feelings.
Missing out on a good night’s sleep is a well-known cause of cognitive and emotional problems and making people more accident-prone the next day.
Over longer periods, sleep deprivation is associated with worse mental and physical health. Most research into the cognitive and emotional effects of sleep deprivation involves volunteers spending several nights in the unfamiliar surroundings of a sleep laboratory.
