Metabolic Syndrome

There are times when more is better. More time in front of the TV and more food on the plate, however, wouldn’t fit in this category. These “more” scenarios could eventually bring on an unwanted condition: metabolic syndrome.

Metabolic syndrome isn’t a disease in and of itself. Rather, it is a cluster of risk factors that put you at an increased risk for conditions such as heart disease, diabetes and stroke. If you only have one of these risk factors, you aren’t classified as having metabolic syndrome. However, once you hit three different risk factors, then you are then categorized as having metabolic syndrome.

In this case, more is not better. Having more than one risk factor more than triples your risk of heart disease, said Dr. Catherine Loria, a specialist in the Division of Prevention at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute.

“It’s not a disease in and of itself,” Loria said. “It’s a combination — a clustering. You face a higher risk (of heart disease) by having multiple risk factors occurring together. There’s a greater risk of heart disease with three risk factors than if you just had one of them. Having three of them together increases your risk much more.”

Some of the risk factors include obesity in the abdominal area, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, insulin resistance and plaque buildup in the artery walls, among others. While only having one of these conditions may not be cause for too much worry, the combination of these risk factors could be deadly. It’s not an enviable condition. Problem is, it appears Americans are treating it as such — U.S. adults are being classified with metabolic syndrome at an alarming rate. According to the American Heart Association, more than 50 million Americans have metabolic syndrome.

There are very few ways to treat metabolic syndrome. The only two options are lifestyle changes and medication. Lifestyle changes alone can suffice in treating it, but medication alone will only delay metabolic syndrome’s progression. That’s why so mhis or her chances of survival are grim. Not changing your eating and exercise habits is a recipe for heart disease, diabetes and likely a premature death.

It’s expected to get worse. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute estimates that metabolic syndrome will soon be the leading cause for heart disease. Right now, smoking is the chief culprit.

As the obesity rates grow, so does the number of people with metabolic syndrome. As those rates grow, life spans can shorten.

Having metabolic syndrome doesn’t bode well for your health in any regard. According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, a person with metabolic syndrome is five times more likely to develop diabetes than someone without metabolic syndrome. Also, a person with metabolic syndrome is twice as likely to develop heart disease.

That may be the silver lining when it comes to metabolic syndrome — lifestyle changes and medication can make a world of difference. However, both are easier said than done.

Dr. Dina Burke, an internist at the University of Nevada School of Medicine who serves on the Spring Valley Medical Executive Committee, says physical inactivity and poor diet can accelerate atherosclerosis, which can increase heart disease risk.

“An atherogenic diet and abdominal obesity can substantially increase risk (of heart disease),” Burke said. “But a 7 to 10 percent weight loss can cut that risk. You should be getting less than 7 percent of your calories from saturated fat.”

Burke notes that 15 to 19 percent of Nevadans are obese.

We’re still built for a lifestyle that disappeared long ago, Burke said. We’re no longer hunter-gatherers competing with predators for food.

“In ancient times, food scarcity or predators caused stress, which causes an increase in cortisol. This stress hormone can ramp up fat storage, something that was useful when food was scarce. Now we take our stress sitting down. When stressed, we crave carbohydrate-rich snack food. It makes us calm.” But we’re not offsetting it with activity, Burke said, and many of us are regularly making poor food choices.

Loria said lifestyle changes are the most common things physicians recommend for someone with metabolic syndrome. That’s easier said than done, though. Most people who are categorized with metabolic syndrome live sedentary lifestyles. They eat what they want with little regard for their body. The extent of their daily exercise might be walking to the car.

Lifestyle changes are supposed to be easy, Loria said. They are effective though, which is why these changes are the first option over medication, which may carry some side effects. The best thing to do is to gradually make lifestyle changes. Instead of trying to run, walk first. Instead of trying to walk 10 miles in the first week, walk five. Rather than cutting your caloric intake in half, first cut it by 25 percent.

Making harsh, drastic changes immediately may not be beneficial at all. In fact, it may encourage people to give up on lifestyle changes. Rather than do that, Loria said it’s important to make lifestyle changes in smaller, more manageable chunks.

But do something, and do it now. “Get up and just go,” Burke said.

Burke also recommends getting plenty of sleep — at least seven or eight hours a night.

“It’s not just going on a diet for two or three months. It’s making life-long changes,” Loria said. “You have to commit to those changes for the rest of your life. Starting small and making small changes is not so difficult.

“A huge change is what you’re ultimately after. Start small, and maintain.”

There is no concrete cause behind metabolic syndrome. However, one’s metabolism is a known factor. Insulin resistance greatly increases one’s likelihood of developing the risk factors that lead to metabolic syndrome. It is also well-documented that being inactive and overweight result in a greater likelihood of having the risk factors. Also, there are other risk factors.

According to the Mayo Clinic, metabolic syndrome is more prevalent in older people. For example, only about 10 percent of 20-somethings have metabolic syndrome, while about half of people in their 60s have it. Also, being Hispanic or Asian increases your likelihood, according to the Mayo Clinic. Smoking doesn’t help, either.

While there is still controversy regarding the exact causes of metabolic syndrome, the treatments are better known.

And unlike other diseases and conditions, there are no easy cure-alls when it comes to metabolic syndrome. Because it is a clustering of conditions, there is no one pill or surgery that will do the trick.

“You can’t have surgery to reduce their blood pressure,” Loria said. “It’s not like somebody can go in there and scrape off plaque in the arteries.”

It’s either change your lifestyle, or metabolic syndrome’s progression will slowly lead to dangerous health conditions that could eventually end your life.

Aside from lifestyle changes, there are medications that can help. Cholesterol-lowering drugs and medicine that control blood pressure are two common approaches to help treat metabolic syndrome. 

However, not all medications come hassle-free. A person with metabolic syndrome could be prescribed three or four medications at a time to deal with the bevy of risk factors.

“The next step is medication for each of those risk factors,” Loria said. “People might get put on three different medications. Or four. But that’s the second step — only if lifestyle changes alone don’t decrease your levels.”

With that much medicine in the system, some complications are sure to arise. Also, it may be difficult for some to adhere to such a strict medicine regimen. That’s why lifestyle changes are the preferred method of treating metabolic syndrome.

“They may not be very serious side effects, but they may be troublesome,” Loria said of taking multiple prescriptions. “That’s why we advocate lifestyle changes first.”

Prevention is key. Letting people know about the adverse health effects may be the best way of preventing the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in future generations. Once people understand the devastating consequences metabolic syndrome may bring, they may be more likely to avoid developing the risk factors by living a healthier lifestyle.

“There’s a lot of work being done looking at what predicts metabolic syndrome,” Loria said. “But there’s not really a good conclusion because it’s a syndrome. It’s a way of telling people they have a much higher risk of (bigger health problems) because they have multiple risk factors for heart disease.”