Research Description
Menopause is an inevitable stage of the female lifespan, with women spending up to 8 years in the perimenopause transition. During this transition, significant physiological changes occur, increasing the risk for diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Beginning in perimenopause, women experience a loss of muscle mass, an organ essential for glucose regulation, and an increase fat mass, particularly in the abdomen. Diet and exercise are known to mitigate body composition changes, but they are often not feasible, nor have they been evaluated specifically in perimenopause. The purpose of this study is to understand the metabolic responses of high intensity exercise compared to traditional aerobic exercise in early and late perimenopausal women. We will use this pilot data to inform future studies to explore the use of consistent HIIT or aerobic exercise, in combination with varied pre-exercise dietary strategies, to 1) optimize glycemic control; 2) manage weight loss; and 3) enhance cardiometabolic health, reducing comorbidities associated with perimenopause.Research Profile
What area of diabetes research does your project cover? What role will this particular project play in preventing, treating and/or curing diabetes?Pre-Diabetes; lipid and carbohydrate management, lifestyle behavior change, women's health The proposed study will provide needed insight into what perimenopausal women eat prior to exercise impacts their use of fat and carbohydrate for fuel and overall muscle health. This study will also highlight aspects of exercise metabolism for early and late perimenopausal women, a population that has changes in body composition and metabolism that are not completely understood.
If a person with diabetes were to ask you how your project will help them in the future, how would you respond?The findings of this study will help guide specific exercise and nutrition recommendations for women across their transition to menopause, in order to reduce the risk of increased cardiometabolic disease. This study will also provide practical strategies for eating around exercise to optimize health and body composition.
Why important for you, personally, to become involved in diabetes research? What role will this award play?This award will have an immense impact on laying the foundation for women's health and how to address key physiological events they experience with age. I am motivated by helping women feel better and have a lower risk for disease, while also providing practical evidence-based exercise and nutrition recommendations.
In what direction do you see the future of diabetes research going?Diabetes research has to rely on multi-collaborative teams in order to move the needle on improving health care for women. We must extend our decades of findings and treatment/management plans founded in male data, and further extend applications to women to understand if approaches should be altered. Additionally, we must continue to take a full-body approach including the body and brain to understand the whole person.