Moderate Exercise Cuts Metabolic Syndrome, Heart Risk

A new study by researchers at Duke University Medical Center suggests that it might be possible to avoid metabolic syndrome with just a brisk 30-minute walk everyday. Metabolic syndrome is a health condition that can be a precursor to heart disease, diabetes, and stroke.

Metabolic syndrome is a collection of risk factors that can eventually lead a patient to more serious health problems. It affects nearly one-quarter of all US adults and while its validity as a disease unto itself is still being debated, its risk factors are potentially dangerous.

Risk factors of metabolic syndrome include a large waist circumference, high blood pressure, high levels of bad and low levels of good cholesterol as well as high blood sugar. Presence of three or more out of the five factors listed above is considered to be metabolic syndrome.

For their study, researchers led by Dr. Johanna L. Johnson assigned 171 volunteers – men and women – to one of four groups. 41% of the participants had metabolic syndrome at the start of the study. Each of the four groups was assigned to carry out different tasks with one group members remaining sedentary as a control group.

Members of the remaining three groups were required to respectively:

• Indulge in low amount/moderate exercise including brisk walking three to five days a week. They put in about three hours a week and covered about 11 miles
• Exercise in low amount at vigorous intensity. This included the same 11 miles but at a jogging pace and getting about two hours of exercise a week
• Indulge in high amount/vigorous intensity exercise including jogging at a vigorous pace. They put in about three hours a week but covered about 17 miles

At the end of the study period, the researchers found a reduction in metabolic syndrome across all three exercising groups with only 27% participants having the condition. Volunteers in the low amount/moderate intensity group showed better improvement in scores compared to those in the low amount/vigorous intensity group.

This led researchers to the conclusion that moderate intensity exercise on a daily basis or almost daily might be better in reducing risk of metabolic syndrome than more vigorous activity a few days a week.

The researchers however were surprised at the benefits that each group gained from the exercise. “What we found was that modest amounts of moderate intensity exercise [the low/moderate group] were very effective in improving metabolic syndrome,” Dr. Johnson said and added, “Those who exercised the most, jogging 17 miles a week, gained a bit more benefit in terms of lowered metabolic syndrome scores.”

A reduction in waistline circumference was seen across all three exercise groups. According to the researchers, a waist line larger than 34.6 inches in women and 40.2 inches in men is a risk factor for metabolic syndrome. A significant reduction was also observed in the BMI of the volunteers with those in the high amount/vigorous intensity group recording the highest reduction from 29.2 to 28.4.

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,” Dr. Johnson said. Referring to the American College of Sports Medicine and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s advice on exercise, she added that their research confirmed the same.

“It confirms that exercise is beneficial,” said Kerry Stewart, a Professor of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who also has done research on the topic. “It confirms the benefit of exercise for reducing metabolic syndrome and all the risk factors that make up metabolic syndrome,” he said. The surprise, he agreed, was that moderate activity may be enough.

The study has been published in the December 15 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.

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