THE EFFECTS OF PHYSICAL EXERCISE IN THE PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF METABOLIC SYNDROME

CHRONIC DISEASE AND PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

THE EFFECTS OF PHYSICAL EXERCISE IN THE PREVENTION AND
TREATMENT OF METABOLIC SYNDROME

Vasilescu Mirela¹, Ionescu Anca Mirela², Rusu Ligia¹, Oravitan Mihaela³, Adela Apostol^2 
1University of Craiova,
²UMF Carol Davila Bucharest,
³West University of Timisoara, Romania
Metabolic syndrome is characterized by the presence of obesity, hypertension, insulin resistance, glucose intolerance and dyslipidemia. Lack of physical exercise and excess caloric intake lead to an imbalance between free fatty acid uptake, lipid storage, and fatty acid oxidation resulting in a progressive intramuscular accumulation of both lipids and fatty acid metabolites, which could cause abnormal insulin signaling, leading to skeletal muscle insulin  resistance. This excess lipid deposits are prone to enhanced lipid peroxidation, which could also lead to the development and/or progression of skeletal muscle insulin resistance by increasing tumor necrosis factor - and/or by inducing mitochondrial damage.
The most efficacious treatments and the only effective approaches to preventing the metabolic syndrome are aimed at the underlying risk factors of obesity, physical inactivity, and atherogenic diet. The researches of the last years have implied the necessity of association in the management of metabolic syndrom, the reduction of body weight with the systematic appliance of physical exercise programs. The most important  effects of physical exercise on the metabolic syndromes different manifestations are: improvement of  skeletal muscle insulin sensitivity and insulin resistance, depletion of both intramuscular lipids and glycogen content, an improvement of the endothelial function by preserving nitric oxide availability, an reduction of the  peripheral markers of inflammation etc. 
KEY WORDS: metabolic syndrome, management, physical exercise programs.