Many people go to the doctor wincing with anticipation of the news that their cholesterol is a little high, their blood pressure is up or they have gained weight. Their doctor might then prescribe one medication for blood pressure, another medication for cholesterol and a diet. However, these conditions might all be part of Metabolic Syndrome, a group of risk factors that have been associated with insulin resistance and obesity, particularly midsection obesity.
Understanding metabolic syndrome means understanding the underlying cause. When metabolic syndrome is not identified and treated there is risk of developing diabetes and atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries).
Checklist
The diagnosis of metabolic syndrome requires three of the five following criteria to be met:
1. A waist size of 40 inches or larger for men, and of 35 inches or larger for women.
2. High Triglycerides
3. Low Good Cholesterol (HDL)
4. High Blood Pressure
5. High Blood Sugar
Risk Factors
Nearly one out of six Americans has metabolic syndrome. There are identified factors that can help recognize if you are at risk for this condition. If you have any of these risk factors for metabolic syndrome, it is important to get an assessment from your doctor, as there are very few physical complaints associated with this syndrome, despite the serious long term implications.
Age
As we age, our hormones shift, our metabolism slows down and lifestyle choices may catch up with us. At the age of 40, the risk of metabolic syndrome increases 20%, at 50 years old it is 35% and at 60 years old there is an increased 45% risk of developing metabolic syndrome. Though important at any age, the older we become, the more at risk we are of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome and the more important diagnosis and prevention become.
Hormone Imbalance
Several medical conditions associated with hormone imbalance have been shown to increase insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. These include PCOS ( polycystic ovarian syndrome) as well as menopause. Weight gain, poor blood sugar control and an increase in the metabolic syndrome criteria are associated with hormones out of balance, which can increase insulin resistance. Balancing hormones may help prevent metabolic syndrome.
Liver or Gall bladder dysfunction
Stresses on the liver or gall bladder have both been associated with metabolic syndrome, from fatty liver to gallstones. These organs are important for hormone and cholesterol detoxification. Ensuring healthy detoxification organs will help prevent metabolic syndrome among many other diseases.
Family History
Many people resign to medication because their parents had similar diagnoses, and there is this sense that medication is inevitable. Research now shows that most people can modify their risk factors for Type II Diabetes and cardiovascular disease, regardless of their genetic predisposition. Though genetics may dictate a predisposition for a condition, it can be preventable with lifestyle and biochemical support.
Ethnicity
South Asians have a greater risk of insulin resistance and therefore metabolic syndrome. Several groups including the American Heart Association have more strict standards for body composition for people of this ethnicity because of the increased likelihood of developing this condition.
The Diagnosis is the Key to Treatment
Whether you were just diagnosed at your last doctor’s office visit, or you have a few of the criteria but not yet metabolic syndrome, or you have multiple risk factors, the prescription is the same: lifestyle medicine. Lifestyle medicine involves making dietary changes as well as a commitment to physical activity, both of which have been shown to help reverse metabolic syndrome. How does this help fight metabolic syndrome? In metabolic syndrome, the body does not control sugar as effectively as it used to. When you eat, your body’s hormone, insulin, communicates to all your cells to take up sugar so that the sugar level in your blood is maintained. Insulin resistance occurs when the hormone becomes less and less effective, requiring more and more insulin to talk to the cells. This insulin resistance is at the root of metabolic syndrome, as it will encourage weight gain, cholesterol production and elevated blood sugar levels.
Exercise helps lower blood sugar levels, essentially helping insulin with its job. Specific dietary changes, especially decreasing sugar in the diet, can help reduce the amount of work insulin must do.
Also, specific nutrients have been found helpful for insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Omega 3 essential fatty acids, Vitamin D, Vanadium, and Chromium are helpful in making insulin more effective on a cellular level.
In medicine, there are “lumpers” and “splitters”. Symptoms can be divided out and separated to be treated individually, or they can be lumped together by common causes. The individual symptoms of metabolic syndrome can be addressed separately, however it isn’t until they are addressed together that the cause can be treated.
Dr. Lauren Gouin is a board certified naturopathic physician with a family practice in Manchester, CT. Her office is now accepting new patients and the physicians are in-network with most insurance companies. To make an appointment call (860) 533-0179.