Effectiveness of therapeutic lifestyle changes in patients with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and/or hyperglycemia

In this prospective study of 2,390 ethnically diverse men and women, we evaluated the clinical effectiveness of 12 weeks of participation in a community-based lifestyle management program in helping patients who had hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and/or impaired fasting glucose or diabetes mellitus achieve goal risk factor levels without using pharmacotherapeutic agents. Although further research is warranted, the findings clearly show that many patients who have conventional risk factors for coronary heart disease can achieve goal levels without medications within 12 weeks of initiating therapeutic lifestyle changes and refute the notion that intensive lifestyle intervention is not worth the effort.