What is the “Metabolic Syndrome”?
The metabolic syndrome is a cluster of the most dangerous heart attack risk factors: diabetes and prediabetes, abdominal obesity, changes in cholesterol and high blood pressure. For a person to be defined as having the metabolic syndrome, the new definition requires they have central obesity, plus two of the following four additional factors: raised triglycerides (TG), reduced HDL-cholesterol, raised blood pressure or raised fasting plasma glucose level. Gender and, for the first time, ethnicity specific cut-off points for central obesity as measured by waist circumference are included.
