Improvements in health parameters of a diabetic and hypertensive patient with only 40 minutes of exercise per week: a case study

Abstract

Purpose: The present study aimed to report the effects of 15 weeks of a minimal dose resistance training on blood glucose levels, blood pressure, heart rate, physical capacity, and quality of life of a 67 old woman with type 2 diabetes mellitus, cardiopathy and hypertension.

Method: The Patient was sedentary with a family history of heart failure and coronary artery disease. She suffered a heart attack in 2013 and was submitted to six cardiac catheterizations and one angioplasty between the 2015 and 2017. On April 2017, she was initially untrained in resistance training and was followed for 15 weeks with the performance of 31 resistance training sessions. Resistance training followed a minimal dose approach with 4 exercises performed with 2 sets to muscle failure, twice a week.

Results: After follow up, the Patient presented a reduction in blood glucose, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, and heart rate at rest. There were also improvements on body mass index, cardiorespiratory fitness and quality of life. These results were accompanied by a reduction in the amount of antihypertensive and anti-diabetic medications.

Conclusions: These results suggest that only 40 min of resistance training per week might help to improve general health and quality of life in a patient with hypertension and type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Implications for Rehabilitation

• Minimal dose resistance training improved health parameters in a diabetic and hypertensive patient.

• Resistance training promoted a reduction in the drugs used to control blood pressure and blood glucose levels.

Keywords:

• Resistance training
• hypertension
• T2DM
• strength

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the participant for providing the data that we used in this study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

RBV had a fellowship from the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de Goiás (FAPEG, Brazil) and from the Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Ensino Superior (CAPES, Brazil). The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.