What is "metabolic syndrome" or "syndrome X"?

What is "metabolic syndrome" or "syndrome X"?

Anne Peters, MD, FACP, CDE (Professor and Director of Clinical Diabetes Programs, USC Keck School of Medicine) gives expert video advice on: How is prediabetes treated?; What happens when a diabetic doesn't get enough hydration? and more...

Metabolic syndrome, which has also been called syndrome X or the insulin resistance syndrome, is a syndrome in people which gives them a high risk for heart disease and a risk for going on to get diabetes. It's kind of inseparable from type 2 diabetes, in a way, or prediabetes. But basically, it is people who are at risk for type 2 diabetes who gain weight in their center. Gaining weight in your center leads to a higher blood pressure level, to abnormal lipid or cholesterol levels, and to an increase in insulin resistance, which means increases in insulin levels and eventually, potentially, to diabetes. So, if you have the metabolic syndrome, first and foremost, it means you need to be assessed for your risk for cardiovascular disease, for heart attack or stroke. Then you also need to be assessed for your risk for going on to develop diabetes.