Today, I’m revisiting a guest post from ‘legendary’ diabetes educator Gary Scheiner for two reasons: 1) this is the time of year when we most need this essential reminder about gettin’ our exercise, and 2) well, because I just love Gary (who’s also the author of the exceptional book Think Like a Pancreas, btw) and he’s just this week agreed to be one of judges for the 2010 DiabetesMine Design Challenge – woohoo!
For now, enjoy Gary’s take on why exercise tends to get lost in the diabetes shuffle:
Where’s the Activity in Diabetes Self-Management?
A Guest Post by Gary Scheiner, MS, CDE
Having recently returned from the Diabetes Exercise & Sports Association International conference in Toronto, Canada, I find myself inspired by the athletic accomplishments of so many people with Type-1 diabetes. What’s even more inspiring than their ability to compete in (or simply complete) so many challenging events is their ability to manage blood glucose levels under some of the most demanding conditions. We’re talking about mountain climbers, Olympic swimmers, Ironman Triathletes, cross-country cyclists and champion bodybuilders, just to name a few. Definitely inspirational stuff.
What leaves me less than inspired is the continued lack of attention given to physical activity in determination of insulin doses. We all know that physical activity impacts insulin’s effectiveness and blood glucose levels. But think about it:
Which blood glucose meter has an easy method for entering physical activity into the meter’s memory? Which pump incorporates an exercise adjustment into the dosing process? How many logbooks have designated space for recording physical activity? How many downloading programs include physical activity in the reports/displays?
Since its inception, the American Diabetes Association has proclaimed Insulin/Medication, Food/Carbs, Exercise/Physical Activity and Blood Glucose Monitoring to be the cornerstones of diabetes management. Plenty of attention is given to adjusting insulin based on carb intake and blood glucose levels, so where’s the beef when it comes to adjustment for physical activity?
Like many of you, my exercise varies from day to day. I experience major blood sugar drops during certain forms of exercise, mild rises from others, and delayed drops following prolonged/intense activities. Even at work, physical activity plays a role. When I spend lots of time sitting at a desk, my blood sugars tend to run higher. When I’m up and moving around a great deal, they tend to run lower.
Because physical activity affects both hormone levels and the body’s sensitivity to insulin, adjustments need to be made.
When activity increases, mealtime bolus insulin usually needs to be reduced. When activity decreases, boluses need to be increased. It’s a lot to think about! And that doesn’t even touch on necessary adjustments to basal insulin during and after heavy exercise.
The trouble is, short of thinking about it constantly, we just don’t have very good tools for making these adjustments.
Wouldn’t it be nice if the logbooks included with each meter had space to record physical activity? It would be much easier for us (and our healthcare teams) to determine appropriate dosage adjustments. Same with the blood glucose meters, continuous glucose monitors, and downloading/analysis software.
And wouldn’t it be just wonderful if pumps incorporated an activity multiplier into the bolus calculations? How simple it would be to add 20% to a bolus if an “evening in front of the computer” is planned, as opposed to a 33% reduction for an after-dinner bike ride.
At this point, we have two jobs to do:
1. Talk to the representatives of the device companies (pumps, meters, CGMs, software) about taking physical activity seriously when designing their products and accessories.
2. Until that happens, THINK ACTIVITY every time you make an insulin dosing decision. Sure, it’s one extra step. But it’s easier than counting carbs, and you learned to do that, didn’t you? I sure hope so! (If not, I know a great book you can order: The Ultimate Guide to Accurate Carb Counting. Author’s a genius, and an all-around good egg. A bit preachy, but a good egg.)
****
For more about Gary, visit his Wynnewood, PA-based diabetes education practice online at Integrated Diabetes Services.
This is so true. True with every health condition. True for the healthiest among us. My mother’s diabetes was never better than when she took up walking every day.
Actually, I’ve seen lots of logbooks, data management software etc with a place to enter exercise. The problem is, how to quantify it? I’ve got carb/insulin ratio to deal with carb intake, correction factor to deal with insulin needed to lower a high BG, but beyond jotting down “three hours gardening” there’s not much I can to quantitatively with exercise. I can’t throw it on my food scale, I can’t measure it with my meter, I can’t say “I just took 20 grams of exercise.” It’s just a total gray area, and I don’t know how you would quantify it???
I agree, it’s hard to know exactly what you’re doing – ie, speed walking is different than walking at a leisurely pace. I found what worked best for me is to disconnect my insulin pump (under an hour) then test my blood sugar immediately after exercise.