Cycle Exercise May Help Improve Diabetic Neuropathy

Researchers undertook this randomized-controlled trial to determine how measures of superficial femoral artery and neuropathic symptoms could be influenced by exercise training in patients with diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN). They included 31 volunteers with established DPN in this study and randomly allocated the participants to experimental or control groups. The experimental group was asked to perform exercise training (50%–70% of heart rate reserve, 30–45 min, 3 sessions/week) over 12 weeks of time frame. They found a significant rise in the FMD(flow mediated dilation)% in the experimental group vs the control condition. However, resting baseline diameter and intima media thickness were not significantly altered. The exercise intervention resulted in a significant improvement in fasting glucose, HbA1c and Michigan Diabetic Neuropathy Score (MDNS). A significant correlation between the alterations in MDNS and FMD and also between MDNS and HbA1c was suggested by Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Findings are suggestive of the implication of metabolic and vascular factors in the development of DPN, and thus may hold considerable clinical significance.