Metabolic syndrome
Metabolic syndrome is a high-risk clustering of central adiposity, dysglycaemia, raised blood pressure and atherogenic lipids; it is a risk marker rather than a separate disease, so management is formal cardiovascular-risk assessment plus targeted treatment of weight, glucose, lipids and blood pressure.
Definition
Metabolic syndrome is a clustering of central adiposity, dysglycaemia, raised blood pressure and atherogenic dyslipidaemia. Different research definitions use different component thresholds; in clinical practice the label should prompt formal assessment and treatment of the individual risk factors rather than replace their diagnostic pathways.
First principles
Visceral adiposity and insulin resistance link the cluster
Excess visceral adipose tissue alters free-fatty-acid delivery and inflammatory signalling. The liver increases glucose and triglyceride-rich lipoprotein production, muscle glucose uptake becomes less effective, and compensatory insulin secretion eventually fails. The same phenotype is associated with hypertension, fatty liver and a prothrombotic state.
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