Metabolic Syndrome

Metabolic syndrome means having disorder of energy utilization and its storage. It is a combination of various risk factors like increased blood pressure, high triglycerides, excess abdominal fat, high sugar level and abnormal cholesterol level that are also the symptoms of metabolic syndrome. The various causes of metabolic syndrome include obesity, unhealthy lifestyle or hormonal imbalance. The patient is diagnosed with metabolic syndrome if he has any three of the following five symptoms-blood pressure ≥130/85 mm Hg, HDL-C < 40 mg/dL in men or < 50 mg/dL in women, fasting glucose ≥100 mg/dL, triglycerides ≥150 mg/dL and waist circumference ≥102 cm (40 in) in men or ≥88 cm (35 in) in women. Metabolic syndrome has three categories- insulin resistance, disorder of adipose tissue and constellation of independent factors. In insulin resistant the body fails to recognize insulin which is produced by the body thus causing the sugar in the blood to accumulate instead of being absorbed into the other cells. So blood sugar level remains high and body continues to secrete more insulin leading to high insulin level in the body. Though blood sugar level is not high enough to be termed as diabetes but they increase the risk of serious health problems. In disorder of adipose tissue, several products are released by adipose tissue that increases other risk factors. It includes cytokines, no esterified fatty acids (NEFA) and adiponectin. The increase in level of NEFA in plasma overloads liver and muscle with lipid that enhances insulin resistance. Beyond the two factors, each risk factor of the metabolic syndrome has its own regulation through acquired and genetic factors, like lipoprotein metabolism is modulated by genetic variation. It leads to variability in expression of risk factors.

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Last date updated on September, 2024