Do You Have Metabolic Syndrome?

High numbers on three of these tests may mean you have metabolic syndrome.

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Carrying extra pounds puts you at higher risk for both diabetes and heart disease. In fact, obesity, insulin resistance, and risk factors for heart disease appear together so often, researchers are beginning to think of them as different expressions of a single disorder sometimes called syndrome X, or metabolic syndrome.

It isn't clear how the different components of metabolic syndrome affect one another, but in 2001 the National Cholesterol Education Program, part of the National Institutes of Health, for the first time defined how to diagnose it. Using the new definition, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced in 2002 that about a quarter of the population has metabolic syndrome. What does this mean to you? If diabetes goes hand in hand with heart disease, taking charge of your blood sugar can help protect you against both.

According to the National Institutes of Health, you suffer from metabolic syndrome -- and have a higher risk of both diabetes and heart disease -- when any three of the following seven measures are true for you:

  • Fasting plasma glucose: 110 mg/dl or more

  • Waist size (men): more than 40 inches

  • Waist size (women): more than 35 inches

  • HDL cholesterol (men): less than 40 mg/dl

  • HDL cholesterol (women): less than 50 mg/dl

  • Triglycerides: 150 mg/dl or more

  • Blood pressure: 130/85 or more

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