Most people have far more control over their health than they think they do or take advantage of. Take metabolic syndrome, for example, a precursor to diabetes and all sorts of other common age-related degenerations linked to excess visceral fat. The evidence suggests that metabolic syndrome is just another name for "not exercising and getting fat" - a state of affairs that can be remedied. For example: researchers examined "the effects of a 24-week lifestyle intervention prescribed by family doctors on carotid artery stiffness in metabolic syndrome (MS) subjects with pre-hypertension and/or pre-diabetes. ... Sixty-three middle-aged and older subjects with pre-hypertension and/or pre-diabetes were divided into subjects without MS (MS-) and with MS (MS+). ... Family doctors prescribed an individually customized lifestyle prescription for aerobic exercise and Mediterranean-style diet. ... Carotid artery distensibility significantly increased in MS+ following the 24 weeks of intervention compared with baseline. Similarly, beta stiffness index decreased in MS+ following the 24 weeks of intervention. Following the intervention, waist circumference, BP and fasting glucose levels reduced in MS+, and 13 MS+ subjects were free from MS." Why let yourself become run down and damaged when you can prevent that from happening?

Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19097666