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Knowledgebase: Nutritional Information
 What does 'metabolic syndrome' mean?
Posted by Stephan Mackenzie on 22 April 2011 11:18 AM
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| Metabolic syndrome is a condition in which a group of risk factors for cardiovascular disease (heart disease and stroke) and type 2 diabetes occur together. Although it doesn't have a universally accepted definition, most health professionals would include the following as the principal components: Abdominal obesity (i.e. excess body fat in the region of the stomach); High blood pressure (also known as 'hypertension'); Low blood levels of the 'good' cholesterol, HDL; High blood levels of the 'bad' cholesterol, LDL; High blood levels of triglycerides; and Insulin resistance (that is, an impaired ability of the body's insulin to handle blood glucose). People with three or more of the above symptoms can be considered to have the metabolic syndrome, greatly increasing their risk of cardiovascular disease and/or type 2 diabetes, two of the most pervasive diseases in Western populations. | |
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