Doing a moderate regular exercise such as a brisk 30-minute walk most days of the week is a good way to prevent metabolic syndrome (a health condition that can lead to many major diseases such as heart disease, diabetes and stroke), a new study suggest. Study author Johanna L. Johnson, a clinical researcher at Duke University Medical Center’s department of medicine said that we found a modest amount of moderate intensity exercise was very effective in improving metabolic syndrome risk.
At the start of the study, 41 percent of the 171 participants had metabolic syndrome; at the end, just 27 percent did. The study was published in the Dec. 15 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology. Latest survey says that about one-quarter of all U.S. adults have metabolic syndrome, a collection of risk factors that can eventually set you up for more serious health problems. Some experts include a large waist circumference; high blood pressure; high levels of triglycerides; low levels of good (HDL) cholesterol; and high blood sugar. If you have three or more of the five risk factors, then you have metabolic syndrome.

Johnson and her colleagues looked at the effects of different amounts and intensities of exercise. The researchers divided 171 men and women to one of four groups. One was a control group, whose members continued to be sedentary. The other three groups included:

* A low amount/moderate intensity group. They did brisk walking three to five days a week, aiming for about 11 miles, and typically putting in about three hours a week.
* A low amount/vigorous intensity group. They did the same 11 or so miles but at a jogging pace, so they ended up getting about two hours of exercise a week.
* A high amount/vigorous intensity group. They jogged at a vigorous pace about 17 miles a week, putting in about three hours.

“What we found was that modest amounts of moderate intensity exercise [the low/moderate group] were very effective in improving metabolic syndrome,” she said. Those who exercised the most, jogging 17 miles a week, gained a bit more benefit in terms of lowered metabolic syndrome scores, she said. And those in the low amount/vigorous intensity group didn’t improve their scores as much as those who did less-intense exercise for a longer period of time, the low amount/moderate intensity group.

Moderate intensity activity every day, or almost every day, may be better for metabolic syndrome risk reduction than more vigorous activity a few days a week, the researchers suggested.

So, the bottom line for middle-age, sedentary, overweight people? “If you tell them to go out for a brisk walk 30 minutes on most days of the week, they are highly likely to improve health and metabolic syndrome risk,” Johnson said.
via medicinenet

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