Regular swimming helps control diabetes, high BP, and obesity: Study

Palestine: Regular swimming exercise for 16 weeks could be considered as nonpharmacological approach for the management of type 2 diabetes (T2D) and hypertension (HTN), suggests a recent study. It is also useful for patients with obesity, overweight, and hyperlipidemia.

According to the study, published in the journal BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation, T2D and hypertension patients who swam regularly for 16 weeks has significant reduction in blood sugar levels, arterial blood pressure, lipid profiles, and body fat.

Nidal Jaradat, An-Najah National University, Nablus, Palestine, and colleagues aimed to assess the effect of long-term swimming sessions on glycemic and lipidemic parameters, hemodynamic responses, body fat percent, and body mass index for patients with metabolic risk factors from Palestine.

The quasi-experimental study included 40 participants with type 2 diabetes and hypertension. They were divided into two groups -- the first group included the participants who performed long-term swimming sessions and the second group served as the control.

The first group exercised for 2 h, 3 times/week in 29–33 °C swimming pool temperature for 16 weeks. Simultaneously, the control group did not participate in any exercise and advised them to keep on with their everyday lifestyle. After 16 weeks, the researchers analyzed all the obtained metabolic syndrome risk factors using a two-way ANOVA analysis of variance. 

The results showed that there were statistically significant differences at p < 0.05 in the variables of low density lipoprotein (LDL), high density of lipoprotein (HDL), total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TG), blood Glucose (BG), diastolic blood pressure (DBP), systolic blood pressure (SBP) and body fat percent according to group, time, and interaction for the experimental group.

"The findings of the current study suggested that the regular 16 weeks of swimming sessions could be considered nonpharmacological approaches in managing T2DM and HTN," wrote the authors. 

"Therefore, this kind of exercise can a useful therapeutic tool for patients with T2DM, HTN, hyperlipidemia, obesity, and overweight. This is a clinically crucial finding since a continuous swimming program can be highly recommended for individuals with HTN and T2DM. Besides, it can be useful for individuals with obesity, overweight, and hyperlipidemia," they concluded.

The study titled, "Regular swimming exercise improves metabolic syndrome risk factors: a quasi-experimental study," is published in the journal BMC Sports Science, Medicine and Rehabilitation.

DOI: https://bmcsportsscimedrehabil.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13102-021-00254-8