[KoK! Health] Regular Exercise Reduces Atrial Fibrillation Risk in Type 2 Diabetes Patients

[Asia Economy Reporter Myunghwan Lee] A study has found that patients with type 2 diabetes need to maintain regular exercise consistently. This is because it has been confirmed that the amount of physical activity in diabetic patients lowers the risk of atrial fibrillation.

Seoul National University Hospital announced that Professor Choi Ui-geun's team published these research results. The research team conducted a cohort analysis using data from the National Health Insurance Service, targeting type 2 diabetic patients without a history of atrial fibrillation between 2009 and 2012, to examine the association between changes in regular physical activity and the risk of developing atrial fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation is an arrhythmia characterized by a rapid heartbeat originating in the atria, causing irregular pulse. Major symptoms include palpitations and chest discomfort, and in severe cases, dizziness and shortness of breath may accompany. Atrial fibrillation is also a major risk factor for stroke and dementia. Recently, with aging populations, its incidence has been increasing not only in Korea but also overseas.

Although it was previously known that the occurrence of atrial fibrillation in diabetic patients is correlated with lifestyle habits such as smoking, drinking, and low physical activity, Seoul National University Hospital explained that there had been no studies on the impact of increases or decreases in physical activity on the incidence of atrial fibrillation.

Accordingly, the research team evaluated changes in activity levels over two-year intervals for 1,815,330 diabetic patients and classified them into four groups: ▲continuous non-exercisers (inactive→inactive), ▲exercise dropouts (active→inactive), ▲new exercisers (inactive→active), and ▲exercise maintainers (active→active). They then tracked the risk of atrial fibrillation occurrence according to changes in activity levels over approximately five years.

As a result, the continuous non-exerciser group had the highest risk of developing atrial fibrillation. In contrast, the new exerciser group showed about a 5% significantly lower risk of atrial fibrillation compared to the continuous non-exerciser group. The exercise maintainer group, which consistently showed high physical activity levels, had about a 9% lower risk of atrial fibrillation compared to the continuous non-exerciser group.

When expressing activity levels by exercise intensity, the risk of atrial fibrillation significantly decreased in cases where ▲people with low activity levels increased their activity above a certain threshold and ▲people with high activity levels maintained their activity above a certain threshold.

The research team explained that these results demonstrate that regular physical activity is a factor that can reduce the risk of atrial fibrillation in diabetic patients. They emphasized the significance of this study in providing evidence to recommend an appropriate range of physical exercise activities to reduce the risk of atrial fibrillation based on these findings.

Professor Choi said, "Through research results showing that lifestyle modification effectively lowers the risk of atrial fibrillation, it is expected that the importance of active lifestyle correction can be emphasized to patients in clinical settings."

This research was published in the recent issue of the international journal Diabetes Management.

Professor Choi Euigeun (left) and Senior Fellow Park Chansoon of the Department of Cardiology, Seoul National University Hospital. / Photo by Seoul National University Hospital