10 metabolic syndrome facts: patient information
In this article we will describe 10 metabolic syndrome facts. Let’s start with the basics.
1. What is metabolic syndrome?
Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that tend to occur together, increasing your risk of ischaemic heart disease and stroke. Not all think it really exists. More about that later.
2. What comprises metabolic syndrome?
The conditions that are part of metabolic syndrome are not defined. They are usually thought to include these four:
- High blood pressure (hypertension)
- Diabetes
- Obesity
- High cholesterol.
3. How common is metabolic syndrome?
Metabolic syndrome is increasingly common, affecting up to 1/3 of the population. These conditions are more common in Black and Asian people.
4. What causes metabolic syndrome?
The precise cause that may unify all of these conditions is unknown, although insulin resistance may play a key role.
Increasingly other conditions are being added, such as:
- Chronic kidney disease (CKD) – complication of diabetes and atheroma (renovascular disease)
- Dementia
- Heart failure and atrial fibrillation – complications of IHD
- NASH (non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, NASH); or non-alcoholic fatty liver, NAFL
- Cancer
- Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
6. What’s the mechanism of the link?
Atherosclerosis (and its causes) are common to all these conditions, whether cause or effect. In other words the above conditions may be a consequence of atherosclerosis/metabolic syndrome.
7. How is metabolic syndrome diagnosed?
There are no agreed criteria. And having just one of these conditions doesn’t mean you have metabolic syndrome. But it does mean you have a greater risk of ischaemic heart disease (IHD) or stroke. But if you develop 3 or more of these conditions, your risk of these complications are even higher.
8. What do I do if I think I have metabolic syndrome?
If you think you might have metabolic syndrome, it is important to see your doctor. Medication and lifestyle modification can treat metabolic syndrome and reduce the risk of developing heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease.
9. What is the treatment for metabolic syndrome?
It is important to treat each of the individual conditions, i.e. high blood pressure (tablets), diabetes (diet, tablets or insulin), obesity (weight loss or bariatric surgery) and high cholesterol (‘statin’ tablet).
If it exists, and if you have metabolic syndrome or any of its components, aggressive lifestyle change may also delay or even prevent the development of serious health problems.
10. Does it exist, and are the conditions really linked?
This is unknown. There is controversy as to whether metabolic syndrome is really a ‘syndrome’. Just because one condition is more likely to occur with another, it does not mean it leads to it, or has the same underlying cause.
It could be just that these conditions are common, so people may well have 2 or more, and we are over-interpreting them as being linked.
Summary
We have described what are key facts about metabolic syndrome – if it exists. We may be over-interpreting common diseases, to see links that are not there.
