| News - Hypertension Week of September 14, 2003/ Vol. 2 No. 37 |
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Study: Exercise, Weight Loss Lower Blood Pressure in Metabolic Syndrome Patients |
| Exercising and losing weight can significantly lower blood pressure and reduce excessive insulin production in patients with metabolic syndrome, according to a study reported in the September 8 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine. Metabolic syndrome is a series of metabolic abnormalities that can increase the risk of heart disease and stroke. These abnormalities include high cholesterol and triglyceride levels, obesity and an inability to metabolize carbohydrates and sugars. More than one in five American adults have the syndrome. However, clinicians often overlook the dangers of metabolic syndrome, particularly in patients with hypertension, where its prevalence is high, according to the Duke University Medical Center researchers. Duke researcher Lana Watkins said the findings highlight the importance of lifestyle modifications such as exercise and weight loss in metabolic syndrome patients. Non-drug strategies are needed in such patients, according to Watkins, since blood pressure drugs can worsen their carbohydrate and lipid metabolism and negate the beneficial effects of those drugs. "Many clinicians are quick to reach for the prescription pad when faced with medical problems," said Duke researcher James Blumenthal. "However, when you have a complex medical syndrome where drugs to treat one area may be harmful in another, it is important to offer patients an effective treatment that is not reliant on drugs." The study involved 53 overweight and middle-aged men and women with metabolic syndrome who were split into groups that either exercised, exercised with a goal of losing weight or lived their lives as usual without exercise or weight loss goals. Overweight patients with metabolic syndrome who exercised and lost weight experienced a reduction of 47 percent in the overproduction of insulin, while patients that only exercised saw a 27 percent reduction. In the group that combined exercise and weight loss, the researchers also found a significant reduction in diastolic blood pressure -- from 96 to 87 mm of mercury. Blood pressure did drop in the exercise-only group, but not significantly, from 93 to 89 mm of mercury.
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