Healthy Promotion for Fighting Metabolic Syndrome: Insights from Multi-Center HeRO-FiT Cohort

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Metabolic Health
• Preventive Medicine

Background:

• Metabolic syndrome (MS) is a significant cardiovascular (CV) risk factor, linked to CV diseases (CVD) and diabetes.
• A
• healthy lifestyle
• is crucial for managing MS, particularly in Western populations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of lifestyle interventions in patients with MS.
• To compare the impact of diet alone versus combined diet and exercise on MS markers.

Main Methods:

• A multi-center study enrolled 100 volunteers meeting NCEP/ATP criteria for MS.
• Participants were randomized into two groups: diet only, or diet and exercise.
• Key parameters including BP, HR, BMI, WC, WHR, and blood tests were assessed at baseline and six months.

Main Results:

• Dietary intervention alone improved waist circumference (WC) and waist-hip ratio (WHR).
• Combined diet and exercise significantly improved heart rate (HR), blood pressure (BP), body mass index (BMI), and six-minute walking test (WT6M) distance.
• Blood test markers also showed significant improvement with the combined intervention.

Conclusions:

• A combined lifestyle approach of diet and physical activity is a highly effective early strategy for managing MS.
• Physicians and dietitians should promote healthy lifestyles to combat MS and prevent associated diseases.
• Lifestyle interventions may be a valuable alternative to medication in early-stage MS management.