Metabolic Syndrome

Health Tips / Metabolic Syndrome

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You may have heard about metabolic syndrome, but may not remember the details.

To keep it simple, metabolic syndrome is a list of risk factors for heart disease and diabetes. If you can trim away the risk factors and stave off these two common conditions, you can potentially add years to your life.

People diagnosed with metabolic syndrome have three of the following:
• Waist circumference greater than 35 inches (women) or 40 inches (men)
• Blood triglyceride level (fasting) of 150 or greater
• HDL (“good”) cholesterol less than 50 (women) or 40 (men)
• Blood pressure greater than 135/85
• Blood sugar (fasting) greater than 100

The best treatment by far for metabolic syndrome is to start significant lifestyle changes– namely weight reduction and exercise.

Because of the real health risks of metabolic syndrome, many doctors start patients on medications to improve their numbers and reduce the risks. These include:
• Metformin (also called Glucophage), a medicine for diabetes that reduces blood sugar and helps with weight loss.
• Statin drugs (like Lipitor) to lower cholesterol.
• ACE-inhibitor blood pressure drugs to lower blood pressure.

For my patients, I add these nutritional supplements:
Gluco-Mend (a combination of natural products to help with blood sugar).
HDL-Rx (a new natural combination that helps raise “good” cholesterol).

Diagnosing metabolic syndrome is straightforward. You can measure your abdomen yourself by wrapping a tape measure around your waist at navel level. Your doctor can perform the remaining tests during your next visit (if you arrive having fasted). Maybe you’ll discover some lifestyle changes are in order.