Effective Prevention of Carotid Artery Atherosclerosis by Following this Motto for Healthy Habits: “Give Up One, Reduce Two, and Increase Three”

Of the three classifications of healthy lifestyle habits, which one is the most closely associated with the prevention of metabolic syndrome in Japanese?

OBJECTIVE

Metabolic syndrome is associated with a high risk of cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. The predominant cause of metabolic syndrome is an unhealthy lifestyle. Healthy habits are represented by Breslow's 7 healthy practices, Morimoto's 8 items and Ikeda's 6 healthy habits. This study was done to determine which set of healthy habits was most likely to result in a reduced risk of developing the metabolic syndrome.

METHODS

From April 1, 2000 through March 31, 2007, 6,765 males and 2,789 females underwent a medical check-up at Jikei University Hospital in Japan. They completed a simple, self-administered lifestyle questionnaire based on the 3 classifications of healthy habits. The responses were divided into 3 groups (poor, moderate and favorable) according to each of the healthy habit criteria. The incidence of metabolic syndrome was defined in participants who were newly diagnosed during the follow-up using Japanese-specific diagnostic criteria. The Kaplan-Meier cumulative 7-year incidence was calculated. Kaplan-Meier curves were compared using the long-rank test adjusted for age.

RESULTS

In females, Breslow's, Morimoto's and Ikeda's healthy habits showed significant differences in the incidence between poor and moderate groups, and between poor and favorable groups. In males, a significant difference was observed among the poor, moderate and favorable groups for Ikeda's healthy habits. However, no significant difference was observed for Breslow's healthy practices. Morimoto's items only showed a significant difference between the poor and moderate groups.

CONCLUSION

Among the 3 models tested, Ikeda's healthy habits were the most useful for decreasing the risk of metabolic syndrome in Japanese.

Influence of socioeconomic status on lifestyle behavior modifications among survivors of acute myocardial infarction

The impact of secondary prevention initiatives on survival in higher-risk socioeconomically disadvantaged patients after acute myocardial infarction (AMI) may depend on behavioral adaptive responsiveness, uptake, and adherence to healthier lifestyles. From December 1999 to February 2003, 1,801 patients in Ontario, Canada were interviewed regarding their lifestyle behaviors at 30 days after their index AMI hospitalization. Data were obtained using self-reported surveys, medical chart abstraction, and administrative data linkage. Multivariate analyses were adjusted for baseline sociodemographic, cardiac risk severity, and co-morbid conditions. Socioeconomically disadvantaged patients had greater cardiac risk severity at baseline than did their wealthier better-educated counterparts. Compared with lower-income patients, patients with higher incomes were less likely to smoke (adjusted odds ratio [OR] for highest vs lowest income tertiles 0.36, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.21 to 0.63, p <0.001), more likely to participate in exercise (adjusted OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.07 to 1.85, p = 0.02), and more likely to decrease or discontinue alcohol use (adjusted OR 1.64, 95% CI 1.16 to 2.34, p = 0.06). The relation between education and lifestyle behaviors was less pronounced for education than for income. After adjustment for baseline factors, patients who acknowledged participation in regular physical exercise at 1 month had a significantly lower long-term mortality than those who did not. In conclusion, socioeconomically disadvantaged patients were sicker at baseline and less behaviorally responsive to embarking on healthy lifestyle changes after AMI than were those of higher socioeconomic status.

Effective prevention of metabolic syndrome: A motto for healthy habits-"none of one, less of two, more of three"

SUMMARY

OBJECTIVE

To demonstrate the correlation of six healthy habits with metabolic syndrome.

METHODS

Our mnemonic or motto for promoting healthy habits is "none of one, less of two, more of three". The "one" behavior is smoking. The "two" things are intake of food and alcohol. The "three" things are exercise, rest and enjoyable activities. In 2005, the diagnostic criterion for Japan-specific metabolic syndrome was published.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional study of preventing metabolic syndrome by practicing these six healthy habits.

SUBJECTS

18,139 Japanese who visited the Health Science Center at Jikei University Hospital in Japan for medical check-ups.

MEASUREMENTS

Participants completed a simple, self-administered questionnaire on the lifestyle with these mottos. Metabolic syndrome was diagnosed with the above criterion.

RESULTS

The mean number of practicing six healthy habits was 3.4 ± 1.3 in the subjects with metabolic syndrome, which was significantly lower than that (3.7 ± 1.3) in the subjects without metabolic syndrome. The prevalence of metabolic decreased significantly in relation to the number of healthy habits practiced (20.9% for none, 17.4% for one, 15.0% for two, 13.1% for three, 10.5% for four, 8.4% for five, and 7.2% for six) (p < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Practicing these six healthy habits may be useful in the prevention of metabolic syndrome.