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Metabolic Syndrome Leads to Heart Attack, Stroke and Diabetes!
Should I be worried about metabolic syndrome? If you want to reduce your risk of heart attack, stroke and diabetes, the answer is yes
The major medical establishments have been tossing around the term “Metabolic Syndrome” since the late 1970’s in an effort to describe a combination of symptoms that can foretell a person’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Like many concepts in western medicine, there is a lack of precise agreement on exactly what constitutes metabolic syndrome. In fact, there is some disagreement on the actual name of the syndrome. Over the years, it has been referred to as syndrome X, insulin resistance syndrome, and Reaven’s syndrome.
But there is one thing that almost everyone in the medical community can agree on ... The prevalence of metabolic syndrome in the US is out of control, with the most recent estimate at 50 million people or nearly a quarter of the adult population!1
And what is even more frightening is this ... if you have metabolic syndrome, medical research has determined that you’re at three times the risk of developing heart disease or having a stroke. And your risk of dying from heart disease if you suffer from metabolic syndrome is 5½ times greater than people with heart disease who do not have metabolic syndrome.2
What are the symptoms of metabolic syndrome?
As stated before, there is some disagreement on the exact definition of what constitutes metabolic syndrome. One of the most widely accepted is from the American Heart Association and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. For the diagnosis of metabolic syndrome, their criteria are if you have three or more of the following symptoms:3
- Blood pressure equal to or higher than 130/85 mmHg
- Blood sugar (glucose) equal to or higher than 100 mg/dL
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Large waist circumference (measurement around the waist):
- Men - 40 inches or more
- Women - 35 inches or more
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Low HDL cholesterol:
- Men - under 40 mg/dL
- Women - under 50 mg/dL
- Triglycerides equal to or higher than 150 mg/dL
Other conditions are often grouped with the symptoms above. One of the most important ones is a proinflammatory state, characterized by elevated levels of C-reactive protein (CRP). The other is a pro-thrombotic state, characterized by elevated levels of substances in blood that lead to artery blockage and strokes.4
The key to breaking the chains of metabolic syndrome … get your blood sugar under CONTROL
While there is no single cause to metabolic syndrome, one contributing factor stands out: insulin resistance. And the key to controlling insulin resistance is to control blood sugar levels.
You’ve probably heard the term “insulin resistance” many times by now. It’s been used in many commercials to sell diet books, videos, and specialty diet foods. But insulin resistance is very real. Here’s how it can happen in your body …
Your cells need energy to carry on the many vital, complex functions they have. They get energy in the form of glucose, a simple sugar your body gets from the food you eat. But for this glucose to be used, it has to get inside your cells.
Insulin—a natural hormone produced in your pancreas—bonds to receptors on the outside of cells. There it acts like a key to let glucose enter. When the doorway no longer recognizes the insulin key, glucose stays in the blood rather than entering the cells.
The pancreas responds by releasing large amounts of insulin to lower the glucose levels. Your pancreas can compensate for this flood of glucose for a number of years by secreting more and more insulin. But after a while, your cells become overwhelmed by all the insulin and they start to respond to the insulin much more sluggishly.
The amount of glucose in your blood gets higher. The pancreas keeps receiving signals that glucose levels are high, so it ratchets up insulin production. The more insulin that’s released, the less effective it becomes, and the more resistant to insulin your body’s cells become. This is insulin resistance!
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This article is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. Always consult with a physician before embarking on a dietary supplement program.