The 20th annual Symposium will be held on Thursday, April 23, 2009.

Physical Activity and Type 1 Diabetes
Poster Session-Science Complex Atrium, 4:00 PM

Catarina  Gulledge,   '10 77
   Major: Exercise Science
   Hometown: Roscommon, MI

Sponsor(s): Bob Moss
Support:  

Abstract: 
Type 1 diabetes only affects a small number of the total cases of diabetes in the United States, but it is a disease with serious consequences because the body stops producing the hormone insulin. Without this hormone, the body cannot get glucose into the cells to be metabolized into energy. While there is no cure for type 1 diabetes, there are ways to manage the disease. Physical activity is one of those ways; it makes the cells more receptive to obtaining glucose from the bloodstream, thus acting somewhat like insulin. However, not all people affected by type 1 diabetes engage in physical activity. By doing a literature search and sending surveys out to type 1 diabetics, I am attempting to see what challenges males with type 1 diabetes face in regards to physical activity, and how physical activity affects them. This will hopefully provide insights into this disease, provide information on how current type 1 diabetics deal with this disease, and thus provide more ways to encourage more type 1 diabetics to engage in physical activity.

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