Mechanism of physical activity in the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes mellitus: A short review

Background: Pre-diabetes (PDM) is a state with impaired glucose tolerance and/or impaired fasting glucose where people are at risk for diabetes. In less than 3 years, PDM gets converted to diabetes. Physical activity (PA) is a boon to PDM and diabetes to gain control over the glycemic variability and insulin secretion, reduction in cardiometabolic risk, and improvement in overall health. Increasing PA helps delay or prevent the conversion of PDM to diabetes mellitus (DM), as well as helps prevent complications of diabetes effectively. Materials and Methods: The aim of the review was to understand the mechanism by which PA can help to prevent and manage DM. Research papers, manuscripts, and review papers on PA and its mechanism of action on prevention and management of diabetes were searched and relevant contents were studied. One hundred and twelve papers were chosen from online sources like Google Scholar, Scopus, PubMed, Sci-Hub, and Library Genesis. Fifty-seven articles were shortlisted and out of them 54 included in this mini-review comprising of meta-analysis, systematic review, and randomized control trials. Fifty-seven articles were excluded due to irrelevant content in the contexts of diabetes and its mechanism. Result: The review resulted in getting a better understanding of the possible mechanisms by which PA works in prevention and management of DM and delaying the onset of diabetes in PDM. In addition to that, the highest known risk factors for diabetes in this current scenario are understood as physical inactivity among youngsters, along with low nutrition high-quality diet, stress, low-quality sleep, and associated fat and glucose metabolism. Conclusion: During pandemics like coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), physically being active also has its role in reducing resistance power and metabolism of fat and glucose, thereby increasing the risk for diabetes. It is always better to keep oneself with some exercise daily to maintain surface immunity high and strong to avoid diseases. This is possible by modification of lifestyle with yoga, exercises, and proper diet. Periodic incorporation of indoor-outdoor activities aiming at cutting short period of inactivity will help prevent and manage diabetes and other metabolic endocrine disorders to a large extent.