Type 2 diabetes and the medicine of exercise: the role of general practice in ensuring exercise is part of every patient's plan

Background

The benefit of exercise in the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes (T2D) has a strong evidence base, so it is important to ensure exercise is part of every patient’s management plan.

Objective

This article reviews the evidence for exercise in T2D and the factors affecting a patient’s willingness to commence and sustain enough exercise to gain benefit. The article offers tips about how to safely and effectively prescribe the ‘medicine’ of exercise for all, even the frailest patients; who to stabilise before an exercise program should begin; and how to use the skills of an accredited exercise physiologist (AEP) to deliver the best ‘prescription’ possible.

Discussion

General practitioners and their teams, along with other healthcare providers such as AEPs, can increase the amount of exercise medicine a patient receives. This is the case for those at risk of developing T2D, those with T2D and those with the many comorbidities associated with T2D.