Iditarod, Dogs, Exercise, And Diabetes
What do all the things mentioned above have in common? A study involving dogs in Iditarod worthy shape to see if their fat-burning abilities could help uncover ways to prevent and treat obesity in type 2 diabetes?
Michael Davis is on the trail to find out. Davis, a professor at Oklahoma State University who has studied exercise physiology in sled dogs for a decade, recently completed the first phase of research examining how dogs that train for the 1,100-mile Iditarod become “insulin-sensitive” and convert fat to energy so proficiently.
“If we can figure out what exercise is doing to start the process, then we may be able to find how it can be applied to everyone, whether or not they are physically able to exercise,” he says.
Approximately 24 million Americans have type 2 diabetes, diet and exercise have been shown to help prevent the onset.
