Symptoms of Metabolic Syndrome
People with metabolic syndrome display a group of diagnosed risk factors that could lead to cardiovascular disease. The World Health Organization identifies a metabolic disorder as high insulin levels plus two of the following health risks: abdominal obesity, cholesterol abnormalities or high blood pressure. This illness is also known as Syndrome X, insulin resistance syndrome and dysmetabolic syndrome.
Other People Are Reading
-
Insulin Resistance
-
A normal fasting blood sugar is less than 100 mg/dL. If your glucose levels are higher, you are at risk for metabolic syndrome. The National Institutes of Health says that 85 percent of those with type II diabetes develop metabolic syndrome.
High Blood Pressure
-
If you're on medicine to treat high blood pressure or your blood pressure is 130/85 or higher, you could be at risk for developing metabolic syndrome. Only one of these two numbers have to be high to be considered characteristic of the illness.
-
Cholesterol Abnormalities
-
People with metabolic syndrome may have an elevated triglyceride level of 150 mg/dL or higher. Triglycerides are a type of fat found in the blood. Those who develop a metabolic disorder typically have HDL (known as good cholesterol) levels of 50 mg/dL or less for women and 40 mg/dL or less for men.
Obesity
-
Abdominal obesity is the most common characteristic of metabolic disorder. Women with a waist measurement of 35 inches or more are considered at risk; for men, it's 40 inches or more. Because of this, losing weight is the recommended treatment for limiting the syndrome's progression.
Causes
-
It is not known what causes metabolic syndrome. The characteristics generally used to describe this illness, like insulin resistance, obesity and hypertension, can be genetic or lifestyle factors. The risk of developing metabolic syndrome increases with age. Forty-three percent of those affected are between 60 and 69 years old.
-
