Diabetes is associated with various health problems including decline in skeletal muscle mass. A research group revealed that elevation of blood sugar levels leads to muscle atrophy and that two proteins play key roles in this phenomenon.
Muscle atrophy is caused by an imbalance in contractile protein synthesis and degradation which can be triggered by various conditions including Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM).
Not only do T2D patients have both reduced muscle recovery and strength, they also start to lose muscle mass. In fact, the longer you have diabetes, the more muscle mass you tend to lose, especially in the legs (3). InBody results for patients with T2D shows that lower body muscle mass is particularly low.
Studies in diabetes complications have mostly focused on kidney and cardiovascular diseases, as well as neuropathy. However, DM can also cause skeletal muscle atrophy.
“When the glucose doesn't arrive in your cells, your body thinks it's starving and finds a way to compensate. It creates energy by burning fat and muscle at a rapid pace. This causes unexplained weight loss,” explains Cotey.
Obesity is one risk factor for diabetes, but some thin people can also develop the disease.
Muscle atrophy can occur due to malnutrition, age, genetics, a lack of physical activity or certain medical conditions. Disuse (physiologic) atrophy occurs when you don't use your muscles enough. Neurogenic atrophy occurs due to nerve problems or diseases.
Having diabetes won't stop you from building muscle. However, it's wise to follow a few precautions when it comes to gaining muscle. There are many different types of exercise and one of the most popular is strength or power training, which is very effective for building strong bones and muscles.
Do not worry: There are steps you can take to increase or maintain your strength. Studies show that resistance exercise can help to avoid and even reverse muscle loss.
You could have skinny legs because you're not training often enough, not lifting heavy enough, not eating properly, or lifting with improper form. Doing too much cardio and not doing enough total leg volume could also limit your leg gains. Fortunately, these are all relatively easy fixes.
Diabetic dermopathy
The spots look like red or brown round patches or lines in the skin and are common in people with diabetes. They appear on the front of your legs (your shins) and are often confused with age spots. The spots don't hurt, itch, or open up.
It's official, thick thighs save lives, according to heart experts. A new study has found people with thin legs have a higher risk of suffering heart failure after experiencing a cardiac arrest.
Studies show that it's as good as aerobic exercise at boosting how well your body uses insulin. (Also doing aerobic exercise may be even better.) The American Diabetes Association recommends that people with type 2 diabetes start a strength training program to help with blood sugar control.
Regular physical activity, whether at the gym or at home, is vital for diabetes management. It can improve your quality of life and when combined with a healthy, balanced diet can reduce the risk of cardiovascular complications, such as heart disease.
Can people living with diabetes build muscle? The answer is an emphatic yes – they can and they should! Regular weight-bearing exercise can do wonders for your muscle and bone health.
The good news is that there are steps we can take to slow and even halt this process, medically known as sarcopenia. There are two main lifestyle changes to help you avoid muscle loss: consistent strength training and consuming an adequate amount of protein each day.
These results indicate that metformin may induce muscle atrophy in physiological low dose ranges of metformin, as well as high doses of metformin. Metformin is a biguanide.
The most common cause of sarcopenia is the natural aging process. You gradually begin losing muscle mass and strength sometime in your 30s or 40s. This process picks up between the ages of 65 and 80. Rates vary, but you may lose as much as 8% of your muscle mass each decade.
If you don't eat, your blood sugar levels are lower and medication may drop them even more, which can lead to hypoglycemia. Hypoglycemia can cause you to feel shaky, pass out, or even go into a coma. When you “break” your fast by eating, you may also be more likely to develop too-high blood sugar levels.
Some foods can help you to gain weight without causing big rises in your blood glucose (sugar) levels. These include foods high in: Protein, such as meat, fish, chicken, legumes, eggs, nuts and full-cream dairy foods. Energy, such as margarine, avocado, nut butters, oil and salad dressing.
Type 2 diabetes has a stronger link to family history and lineage than type 1, and studies of twins have shown that genetics play a very strong role in the development of type 2 diabetes. Race can also play a role. Yet it also depends on environmental factors.
Try resistance training
Use hand weights, resistance bands, kettlebells, and weight machines at the gym to build lean muscle. This is a more balanced way to increase weight than storing excess fat. Exercise can also increase appetite and reduce the risk of glucose spikes.
In uncontrolled diabetes where blood glucose levels remain abnormally high ( hyperglycemia ), glucose from the blood cannot enter the cells – due to either a lack of insulin or insulin resistance – so the body can't convert the food you eat into energy. This lack of energy causes an increase in hunger.