"You're stronger than you think," said diabetes researcher Jane Yardley, as she clinked the 306-pound (138-kilogram) weight into place on the calf raise machine at the University of Alberta's Physical Activity and Diabetes Lab.
Surprising myself about how much weight I can lift is just one of the personal takeaways I've gained as a participant in Yardley's research study on how exercise affects post-menopausal females who have Type 1 diabetes.
Yardley is among the 160 researchers supported by the Alberta Women's Health Foundation through the Women and Children's Health Research Institute who are determined to fill the significant gaps that exist in our knowledge about women's health.
We know that everything from medications to diseases operate differently in female bodies, but until 20 years ago few medical studies included female participants, who to this day still make up only about a third of research participants.
"I'm a firm believer that to prevent frailty in older adults with Type 1 diabetes, we need to encourage resistance exercise. It's one of the best ways to stave off muscle loss and bone density loss, but there are literally no studies to date on the risks of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) for this population," said Yardley, associate professor of physical education at Augustana Campus.
Personal benefits for study participants' health
To be fair, one of the reasons older females with Type 1 diabetes haven't been the subject of more research is that, until recently, there weren't that many of us around. Diabetes can lead to many complications including renal failure, heart disease, blindness and nerve damage, so life expectancy is 10 to 15 years lower than for people without diabetes. But thanks to better treatment — and more people getting active — that's improving all the time.
"People with Type 1 diabetes can live 10 years longer if they exercise regularly, with a lower risk of heart disease and depression and a higher quality of life," Yardley told a class of fourth-year kinesiology students recently.
At age 59, I take that advice to heart, working out at the gym during the winter and dragon boating in summer, with lots of walking all year round. But even after 42 years with diabetes, exercising is complicated. If I don't adjust my insulin or food intake properly, or if I'm having a stressful day, or if I go too hard or not hard enough — you get the idea — I risk running high or low blood sugar, which can be harmful and would defeat the purpose of a workout.
