Can exercise reduce the risk of diabetic eye disease worsening?

This study looked at the effect of exercise on patients with diabetic retinopathy (DR). They found that patients who did a lot of exercise were less likely to need laser treatment for DR than patients who did a small amount of exercise.

Diabetic retinopathy (DR; eye disease) is a common cause of sight loss in diabetic patients. DR leads to reduced blood flow to the retina (the light-sensitive tissue in the back of the eye). When DR gets bad it requires laser treatment to the retina to avoid blindness. This laser treatment is called retinal photocoagulation (RPC). 

Exercise is known to be beneficial for managing diabetes. However, it is not clear if it also affects the progression of DR.

This study involved 9,018 working-aged diabetic patients in Australia. Patients were asked to report how many times they exercised per week. They were divided into three groups depending on how much they exercised each week. Group 1 exercised a lot (more than 14 sessions per week). Group 2 exercised a medium amount (5-14 sessions per week). Group 3 exercised very little (<5 sessions per week). Exercise was considered from walking 10 minutes or more continuously, to gardening or working around the house, to any sports. Patients were followed for 10 years to see if they needed RPC laser treatment, which would indicate that their DR had progressed.

During follow-up, 4% of the patients needed RPC. Group 1 patients were 39% less likely to need RPC treatment than group 3 patients. Group 2 patients were 22% less likely to need RPC than group 3 patients.

Patients with a longer duration of diabetes and those who ever needed insulin treatment were more likely to need RPC. 

This study showed that patients who did a lot of exercise are less likely to suffer from severe DR and need RPC laser treatment.  

This study is based on medical records. Also, it was based on self-reported data, which is not the most accurate. More studies are needed to confirm these results.