Adding Precose (acarbose) to an exercise regimen significantly improves blood glucose control for type 2 diabetics, according to a small Swedish study.

Dr. Henrik Wagner at the Karolinska University in Stockholm assigned the 48 subjects with type 2 diabetes who completed the study to one of three 12-week treatment programs: group exercise for 50 minutes three times a week; the group exercise plus acarbose; or acarbose alone.

Reporting in the journal Diabetes Care, the researchers said insulin sensitivity -- a measure of the body's response to insulin -- improved by 92 percent in patients in the exercise-only group, while total body fat decreased significantly and blood pressure improved.

Adding acarbose to exercise did not improve insulin sensitivity or the decrease in body fat, but it did result in a significant decrease in hemoglobin A1c levels -- a measure of blood glucose control. A1c levels had not been improved solely by exercise.

Taking acarbose without exercise had no effect on insulin sensitivity or the A1c level, but it did cause a fall in blood pressure and improvement in fasting insulin level.