The “Metabolic Syndrome” is competing with cigarette smoking as the top cause for developing heart disease. It is a combination of risk factors that arise from how a body uses insulin to metabolize sugar. 

First described in 1988 as “Syndrome X,” the Metabolic Syndrome is something you want to avoid because having the Metabolic Syndrome greatly increases your chance for developing diabetes and heart disease as you age. The good news is that it can be avoided and treated. If you are reading this newsletter, you are already in a better position than most Americans for making lifestyle changes that treat the Metabolic Syndrome.

National guidelines (Adult Treatment Panel III) define the Metabolic Syndrome as having three or more of the five following risk factors:

• A waist circumference of greater than 40 inches in a man, or greater than 35 inches in a woman.
• A fasting triglycerides (a fat in the blood) level above 150 mg/dl.
• Low “good” HDL cholesterol: less than 35 mg/dl in a man or less than 40 mg/dl in a woman.
• A blood pressure greater or equal to 130/85, or having to take medicine for high blood pressure.
• A high fasting blood glucose: greater than or equal to 110 mg/dl.

The main approach to treating the Metabolic Syndrome is exercise and, ideally, weight loss.  Being overweight causes your body to produce more insulin to handle blood sugar, and higher levels of insulin are harmful to the body. Even without weight loss, exercise alone will improve the risk factors of the Metabolic Syndrome because exercise helps your body to use insulin more effectively to control blood sugar.  Strive for moderate intensity exercise 30 minutes each day.

The recommended dietary changes to treat the Metabolic Syndrome are straightforward:

• Reduce food portion sizes.
• Replace refined grains with whole grains (oatmeal, brown rice, corn, and whole wheat) and monounsaturated fats (nuts, avocados, canola oil, olive oil.)
• Add vegetables and fruits to increase fiber-strive for five servings a day.
• Eat fish at least once per week.
• Limit alcohol to no more than two drinks per day for men, or one drink per day for women.

If you think that you may have the Metabolic Syndrome, see your health care provider.  He or she can help you to identify and to reduce your risk factors, if necessary. Be sure you know the results of your fasting lipid profile (which will include triglycerides and HDL cholesterol) and that a fasting blood sugar is included in your blood work.

For more information on metabolic syndrome or other health issues of concern, contact Dr. Kaminsky at 610-447-7470 or mitchell.kaminski@crozer.org.