Latest news with #andMetabolism
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
5 types of walking and their fitness benefits, from fartlek to rucking
After a decade of super intense fitness fads, the humble walk has become one of TikTok's biggest comeback trends to-date, with social media users clamouring to swap HIIT workouts for getting their 10,000 daily steps in. While it's been around for as long as humans have existed, social media has brought the many brilliant benefits of walking to light, from healthy weight loss and better cardiovascular fitness, to decreased stress and sounder sleep. Studies also show that there's a direct correlation between how many steps we walk per day and all-cause mortality, meaning daily walks could increase your chances of living longer. But aside from regular strolls around your local park with a takeaway coffee, did you know that there are different types of walking that can provide unique fitness benefits? From building lean muscle to soothing frazzled nervous systems, these are the best walking styles to try, broken down by individual fitness goals. Originally designed as a summer training routine for cross-country skiers, Nordic Walking has caught on as an exercise method in its own right – particularly among elderly populations. The outdoor regimen looks just like normal walking, but with the addition of two long poles, held in each hand and planted into the ground in sync with your stride. Not only does the use of walking poles provide extra stability while you're on the move, they're also said to activate the muscles in the arms, shoulders and core, turning a regular walk into a full-body sweat. In fact, a 2013 study into the effects of Nordic Walking found that regularly engaging in pole walking led to greater improvements in upper-body muscular strength when compared with just a bog-standard mooch around the block. It might sound like a character from Shrek, but the unusually titled fartlek walking has some pretty powerful benefits to pair with its low-stakes training style. Translating to 'speed play' in Swedish, the movement pattern is all about varying the pace and difficulty of your walks, interspersing bursts of faster walking between slower, more gentle rambles to catch your breath. Just like interval training in running, a study published in the journal Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism found that alternating periods of fast and slow walking could improve cardiovascular fitness, help control blood sugar spikes and overall physical function. The researchers also added that the movement pattern is particularly good for people with busy lifestyles, as it's a time-efficient way to reap the benefits of a leisurely walk in a shorter window. You may have about already heard about rucking, if not, it's a military-inspired exercise style that involves intentionally carrying a weighted backpack on long walks. With leading names in the wellness space like podcaster Andrew Huberman and longevity expert Dr Peter Attia all revealing they're big fans of weighted walking, the method is fast becoming as cult as cold water swimming and mushroom coffee. Unlike other styles of walking, Rucking has one major USP – all that added resistance helps to build strength across the muscles required to walk, as well as sculpting your shoulders and back. Rucking could also lead to greater weight loss results, with one study reporting an extra three pounds of fat loss over a three-week period in participants who carried added weight, compared to those who did not. From 12-3-30 to 75 Hard, numerical workouts are all the rage right now. The latest is the 6-6-6 walking challenge, which involves walking for 60 minutes at either 6am or 6pm, with a 6-minute warm-up and cool-down. So much messaging on social media tells us that we need to be in the gym, crushing hard sets with intimidating weights to be reaping the benefits of fitness. But science suggests the opposite, with one recent study finding that 160 minutes of walking a day can be so healthy for those over 40 years of age that it may add an extra five years to their lives. Studies also show that adults who walk outdoors experience more vitality and energy than those who stick to indoor treadmills. With endless amounts of must-download media available on our phones, it's fairly unusual to go anywhere these days without first plugging into a podcast or a playlist. But all that external chatter could be blocking us from getting the most out of our walks, which is exactly why silent walking has taken off as a trend on TikTok recently. The concept is as basic as it sounds: rather than popping in your headphones or calling a friend for distraction, a silent walk involves leaving your phone zipped in your pocket and staying fully present in your surroundings. This slow-paced approach is all about tuning into the sights and sounds on your walk, and grounding in the present moment, which can help you manage your thoughts and feelings rather than being overwhelmed by them. Basically, it's a fancy form of moving mindfulness, a meditation concept that science has underscored as a soothing balm for stress, anxiety and depression, with positive knock-on effects for sleep, mood and immune function. Read more about walking: The easiest ways to count steps as Aldi brings back £11.99 fitness tracker (Yahoo Life UK) How fast you walk is more important than doing 10,000 daily steps (Yahoo Life UK, 4-min read) Study reveals exactly how many steps you need to walk a day, and it's not 10,000 (Yahoo Life UK, 4-min read)
CNN
09-04-2025
- Health
- CNN
More people with type 1 diabetes are using GLP-1 drugs, study finds, despite limited evidence on safety or effectiveness
The use of drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound in people with type 1 diabetes has risen sharply over the past decade, a new study finds, even though there's little information on the drugs' safety and effectiveness for the condition. The family of medications called GLP-1 receptor agonists includes drugs like Wegovy, Zepbound, Ozempic, Mounjaro and Victoza. They were originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes, which happens when the body's cells become resistant to the hormone insulin. Some of them have also been found to be safe and effective to help with weight loss, to treat sleep apnea and to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes in people who don't have diabetes. But the clinical trials of these medications specifically excluded people with type 1 diabetes, who are dependent on the hormone insulin to survive because they can't make enough of their own. Drugmakers feared that using the GLP-1 medications with insulin might raise the chance of dangerously low blood sugar events, or hypoglycemia, and were unwilling to take the risk of studying them in people with type 1. The medication labels for Ozempic and Mounjaro, which are prescribed to help people with type 2 diabetes manage blood sugar, specifically say they are not intended for use with type 1. However, despite the lack of evidence, many doctors began prescribing GLP-1 medications off-label for their type 1 patients, especially those who also have obesity. The new study reflects this growing practice. For the study, which was published last month in the journal Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism, researchers at Johns Hopkins University reviewed the medical records of more than 200,000 people with type 1 diabetes from 2008 to 2023. They grouped the data in three-year periods, starting with October 2008 to September 2011 and ending with October 2020 to September 2023. Over these periods, obesity rates increased substantially among people with type 1 diabetes. Among children ages 2 to 19, obesity rates climbed from 18% to 26%, and they rose from 30% to 38% among adults 20 and older. GLP-1 medication use spiked, as well. Among adults with the highest category of obesity, about 4% used GLP-1 medications in 2008, and 33% did by 2023 – an 800% increase. Some people with type 1 say these drugs have been game-changers, helping them gain control of wild blood sugar swings for the first time. They can also help type 1 diabetes patients lose weight, something that's especially difficult for people who take insulin, which signals the body to take extra sugar out of the blood and store it as fat. But these are anecdotal reports and may not reflect instances in which people have side effects or complications like low blood sugar, which can be life-threatening. 'We really need the clinical trial data dedicated for this type 1 diabetes population and see whether this is effective and safe in this population,' said study author Dr. Jung-Im Shin, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Smaller retrospective studies – those that look back in time – suggest that there are benefits to using GLP-1 medications with type 1 diabetes. But Shin says what's really needed is information from randomized, double-blinded studies, in which participants are followed forward in time and given either a drug or a placebo. Some of that data is coming soon, says Dr. Viral Shah, an endocrinologist and director of diabetes clinical research at the Indiana University School of Medicine who was not involved in the new study. Shah says that, like many of his colleagues, he prescribes GLP-1 medications for certain type 1 patients. 'Most endocrinologists nowadays do understand that people with type 1 diabetes – not everyone, but some, would benefit' from a second medication along with their insulin. In addition to GLP-1 medications, a class of medications used in type 2 diabetes called SGLT-2 inhibitors is also being studied for use with type 1 diabetes. GLP-1 drugs can help lower the amount of insulin a person requires to control their blood sugar and may help people who have type 1 and obesity to lose weight. Because of the risk of low blood sugar, Shah says, it's really important to work with a doctor on dosing of both the GLP-1 and insulin. Shah says he would caution people with type 1 who are not overweight to avoid taking a GLP-1 drug, since retrospective studies have found that this group tends to have more gastrointestinal side effects, which may lead them to stop using the drug. Several ongoing studies are looking at the use of GLP-1 medications in type 1 diabetes, Shah says, including one he led, which will be presented in at the American Diabetes Association's annual meeting in June. Shah's study, which included people who had type 1 and obesity, was a randomized, double-blinded study in patients who use an artificial pancreas to control their blood sugar. An artificial pancreas is a system that uses a computer to deliver insulin based on real-time blood sugar readings. Half of the participants got a weekly shot of semaglutide, the drug in Ozempic and Wegovy, while the other half got a placebo injection. The participants were followed for a total of six months. A similar trial under way at Yale University will follow patients for a year, with data expected in 2028.
CNN
09-04-2025
- Health
- CNN
More people with type 1 diabetes are using GLP-1 drugs, study finds, despite limited evidence on safety or effectiveness
The use of drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Zepbound in people with type 1 diabetes has risen sharply over the past decade, a new study finds, even though there's little information on the drugs' safety and effectiveness for the condition. The family of medications called GLP-1 receptor agonists includes drugs like Wegovy, Zepbound, Ozempic, Mounjaro and Victoza. They were originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes, which happens when the body's cells become resistant to the hormone insulin. Some of them have also been found to be safe and effective to help with weight loss, to treat sleep apnea and to reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes in people who don't have diabetes. But the clinical trials of these medications specifically excluded people with type 1 diabetes, who are dependent on the hormone insulin to survive because they can't make enough of their own. Drugmakers feared that using the GLP-1 medications with insulin might raise the chance of dangerously low blood sugar events, or hypoglycemia, and were unwilling to take the risk of studying them in people with type 1. The medication labels for Ozempic and Mounjaro, which are prescribed to help people with type 2 diabetes manage blood sugar, specifically say they are not intended for use with type 1. However, despite the lack of evidence, many doctors began prescribing GLP-1 medications off-label for their type 1 patients, especially those who also have obesity. The new study reflects this growing practice. For the study, which was published last month in the journal Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism, researchers at Johns Hopkins University reviewed the medical records of more than 200,000 people with type 1 diabetes from 2008 to 2023. They grouped the data in three-year periods, starting with October 2008 to September 2011 and ending with October 2020 to September 2023. Over these periods, obesity rates increased substantially among people with type 1 diabetes. Among children ages 2 to 19, obesity rates climbed from 18% to 26%, and they rose from 30% to 38% among adults 20 and older. GLP-1 medication use spiked, as well. Among adults with the highest category of obesity, about 4% used GLP-1 medications in 2008, and 33% did by 2023 – an 800% increase. Some people with type 1 say these drugs have been game-changers, helping them gain control of wild blood sugar swings for the first time. They can also help type 1 diabetes patients lose weight, something that's especially difficult for people who take insulin, which signals the body to take extra sugar out of the blood and store it as fat. But these are anecdotal reports and may not reflect instances in which people have side effects or complications like low blood sugar, which can be life-threatening. 'We really need the clinical trial data dedicated for this type 1 diabetes population and see whether this is effective and safe in this population,' said study author Dr. Jung-Im Shin, an epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Smaller retrospective studies – those that look back in time – suggest that there are benefits to using GLP-1 medications with type 1 diabetes. But Shin says what's really needed is information from randomized, double-blinded studies, in which participants are followed forward in time and given either a drug or a placebo. Some of that data is coming soon, says Dr. Viral Shah, an endocrinologist and director of diabetes clinical research at the Indiana University School of Medicine who was not involved in the new study. Shah says that, like many of his colleagues, he prescribes GLP-1 medications for certain type 1 patients. 'Most endocrinologists nowadays do understand that people with type 1 diabetes – not everyone, but some, would benefit' from a second medication along with their insulin. In addition to GLP-1 medications, a class of medications used in type 2 diabetes called SGLT-2 inhibitors is also being studied for use with type 1 diabetes. GLP-1 drugs can help lower the amount of insulin a person requires to control their blood sugar and may help people who have type 1 and obesity to lose weight. Because of the risk of low blood sugar, Shah says, it's really important to work with a doctor on dosing of both the GLP-1 and insulin. Shah says he would caution people with type 1 who are not overweight to avoid taking a GLP-1 drug, since retrospective studies have found that this group tends to have more gastrointestinal side effects, which may lead them to stop using the drug. Several ongoing studies are looking at the use of GLP-1 medications in type 1 diabetes, Shah says, including one he led, which will be presented in at the American Diabetes Association's annual meeting in June. Shah's study, which included people who had type 1 and obesity, was a randomized, double-blinded study in patients who use an artificial pancreas to control their blood sugar. An artificial pancreas is a system that uses a computer to deliver insulin based on real-time blood sugar readings. Half of the participants got a weekly shot of semaglutide, the drug in Ozempic and Wegovy, while the other half got a placebo injection. The participants were followed for a total of six months. A similar trial under way at Yale University will follow patients for a year, with data expected in 2028.
