The coexistence of various risk factors that play a role in the development of cardiovascular diseases and are thought to share a common etiopathogenesis is called metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is among the most important and common causes of atherosclerotic diseases and type 2 diabetes.

Metabolic syndrome is a disorder that is mostly seen in obese individuals and may also be accompanied by diabetes, hypertension and heart diseases.

Criteria for Metabolic Syndrome

• Abdominal obesity: waist circumference >94 (or >102) cm in men, >80 (or >88) cm in women,              
• High triglyceride (≥150 mg/dl),
• Low HDL cholesterol (<40 mg/dl in men, <50 mg/dl in women),
• High blood sugar (fasting plasma glucose ≥100 mg/dl),
• High blood pressure (≥135/80 mmHg)

The presence of any three of these criteria in a person is considered metabolic syndrome.

What are the effects of metabolic syndrome?

• It can be seen in 50% of people with hypertension.
• The excretion of uric acid from the kidneys slows down and hyperuricemia and gout may be triggered in the person.
• Testosterone release from the ovaries increases, which may cause polycystic syndrome in women.
• By increasing blood clotting, it predisposes the person to heart diseases.
• Increases cancer risk
• Metabolic syndrome increases the risk of dying from heart disease by 3 times

Metabolic Syndrome Treatment

• In the treatment of an obese individual with metabolic syndrome, the first thing that needs to happen is weight loss, and it must be followed by an appropriate nutrition program under the control of a dietitian. With weight loss, insulin resistance decreases and blood lipids and sugar improve.
• Solid fats should not be consumed in nutrition, rather oils should be preferred in appropriate amounts.
• Fish should be consumed at least 2 times a week and supplemented with fish oil if necessary.
• The amount of fiber consumed should be increased and constipation should be avoided.
• Carbohydrate consumption should be reduced and more whole wheat products should be preferred.
• Salty and sugary foods, delicatessen products, fried and fatty foods should be avoided.
• Smoking and alcohol should not be consumed and regular exercise should be done.

Metabolic syndrome is a bundle of cardiometabolic risk factors. The presence of these risk factors in the same person is a result of common genetic and environmental factors. Hypercholesterolemia, known as a major cardiovascular risk factor, is not a result of the same common ground and is not a member of the metabolic syndrome. Therefore, metabolic syndrome should not be taken as a suggested definition for determining cardiovascular risk. Metabolic syndrome is a definition that reveals that some important cardiometabolic risk factors originate from the same root and that a common approach is necessary and possible for its prevention and treatment.

It is accepted that the common root of metabolic syndrome parameters is visceral adiposity and insulin resistance. However, when insulin resistance actually begins, the halfway point is already passed. The organism activates a series of extraordinary adaptive mechanisms to protect itself against nutritional errors, muscle inactivity and the resulting intracellular energy excess. Although it may seem a bit ironic, both fat tissue increase and insulin resistance are actually nothing more than the biological adaptation of the organism to protect itself. In other words, metabolic syndrome is actually a pathological phenotype that occurs when the limits of biological adaptation are pushed to the persistent continuation of a faulty lifestyle that is not suitable for the genotype.

Metabolic Syndrome becoming the pandemic of our age is the inevitable end of humanity that cannot adapt to civilization, or communities that cannot show the change and development in their personal lives in developing machines and computers, or cannot overcome the psychology of scarcity even in abundance.

In the fight against metabolic syndrome, effective cooperation of all social mechanisms, including medical, sociocultural and administrative, is required. From a medical perspective, it is clear that a multidisciplinary approach to metabolic syndrome is required.