Effects of Blood Letting in Metabolic Syndrome

Charite University, Berlin, Germany64 enrolled

Overview

Metabolic syndrome (MS) has an increasing prevalence worldwide and there is an urgent need for improvement of medical treatment. In traditional medicine phlebotomy (blood letting) is a recommended treatment for subjects with obesity and vascular disease. Recent studies showed that blood letting with iron depletion may improve insulin sensitivity in patients with diabetes mellitus. The investigators aimed to test if traditional blood letting has beneficial effects in patients with MS. A randomized trial with a sample size of 64 self-referred MS patients was conducted. Patients in the blood letting group were allocated to blood letting intervention and the control group was offered a later treatment (waiting list). In the intervention group 300-400 ml of venous blood were withdrawn at day 1 and after 4 weeks. Primary outcomes were the change of systolic blood pressure and of insulin sensitivity as measured by HOMA-Index.

Study Type

INTERVENTIONAL

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Enrollment

Conditions

Metabolic Syndrome

Interventions

Eligibility

Sex: ALLMin age: 25 YearsMax age: 70 Years

Medical Language ↔ Plain English

Inclusion Criteria: * 25-70 years of age * given diagnosis of metabolic syndrome Exclusion Criteria: * clinically significant hepatic, neurological, endocrinologic, or other major systemic or inflammatory disease, including malignancy * known history of hemochromatosis, or presence of the Cys282Tyr mutation * history of drug or alcohol abuse * manifest cardiac disease * history of disturbances in iron balance (e.g., hemosiderosis from any cause, atransferrinemia) * preexisting anemia

Outcomes

Primary Outcomes

insulin sensitivity

Glucose and insulin are measured on the basis of overnight fasting blood samples and Insulin sensitivity calculated according to HOMA-Index