By Robin Wulffson MD for eMaxHealth.com

It is common knowledge that regular exercise promotes cardiovascular health. However, a new study has reported that leisure-time physical activity can significantly reduce the risk of a cardiovascular event in individuals with type 2 diabetes. The findings were presented at the 48th Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD). The meeting runs from October 2 through October 5 in Berlin Germany.

The researchers derived their data from the Swedish National Diabetes Register (NDR). They found that, not surprisingly, type 2 diabetics who exercised regularly significantly reversed the risk of a heart attack or stroke. However, they also found that among diabetics who did little or no exercise at baseline, individuals who managed to substantially increase their leisure-time physical-activity levels over approximately five years slashed their risk of death by almost two-thirds.