Over thirty percent population have metabolic syndrome

Saturday 4th July 2009 HCFI: Over thirty forty percent of adults over age 40 have metabolic syndrome, a constellation of obesity leading to dyslipidemia, hypertension, and insulin resistance, said Dr KK Aggarwal President, Heart Care Foundation of India and Director, IMA AKN Sinha Institute.

Metabolic syndrome carries 10 year risks of a first heart attack event of about 17 percent.
Current criteria define the metabolic syndrome as the presence of any three of the following five traits:
·      Abdominal obesity, defined as a waist circumference in men >35 in and in women >32 in
·      Serum triglycerides 150 mg/dL or drug treatment for elevated triglycerides
·         Serum HDL cholesterol <40 mg/dL in men and <50 mg/dL in women or drug treatment for low HDL-C
·         Blood pressure 130/85 mmHg or drug treatment for elevated blood pressure
·         Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) 110 mg/dL or drug treatment for elevated blood glucose.
The metabolic syndrome is an important risk factor for subsequent development of type 2 diabetes and heart disease.

The key clinical implication of a diagnosis of metabolic syndrome is identification of a patient who needs aggressive lifestyle modification focused on weight reduction and increased physical activity.