Practitioners section- Metabolic syndrome

The Metabolic syndrome is a widely prevalent and multi-factorial disorder. The syndrome has been given several names, including- the metabolic syndrome, the insulin resistance syndrome, the plurimetabolic syndrome, and the deadly quartet. With the formulation of NCEP/ATP III guidelines, some uniformity and standardization has occurred in the definition of metabolic syndrome and has been very useful for epidemiological purposes. The mechanisms underlying the metabolic syndrome are not fully known; however resistance to insulin stimulated glucose uptake seems to modify biochemical responses in a way that predisposes to metabolic risk factors. The clinical relevance of the metabolic syndrome is related to its role in the development of cardiovascular disease. Management of the metabolic syndrome involves patient-education and intervention at various levels. Weight reduction is one of the main stays of treatment. In this article we comprehensively discuss this syndrome- the epidemiology, pathogenesis, clinical relevance and management. The need to do a comprehensive review of this particular syndrome has arisen in view of the ever increasing incidence of this entitiy. Soon, metabolic syndrome will overtake cigarette smoking as the number one risk factor for heart disease among the US population. Hardly any issue of any primary care medical journal can be opened without encountering an article on type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia or hypertension. It is rare to see type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, obesity or hypertension in isolation. Insulin resistance and resulting hyperinsulinemia have been implicated in the development of glucose intolerance (and progression to type 2 diabetes), hypertriglyceridemia, hypertension, polycystic ovary yndrome, hypercoagulability and vascular inflammation, as well as the eventual development of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease manifested as myocardial infarction, stroke and myriad end organ diseases. Conversely, treatment and consequent improvement of insulin resistance have been shown to result in better outcomes in virtually all of these conditions.