Metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease and type-2 diabetes.

The Metabolic Syndrome, a highly prevalent entity is a clustering of risk factors of metabolic origin that are accompanied by increased risks of cardiovascular disease and type-2 Diabetes Mellitus. These risk factors are atherogenic dyslipidaemia, elevated blood pressure, raised plasma glucose, a prothrombotic and a proinflammatory states. Two major underlying risk factors for the metabolic syndrome are obesity and Insulin resistance; exacerbated by physical inactivity, advancing age, endocrinal and genetic factors. The condition is progressive and in many patients eventually culminates in type-2 Diabetes, which further enhances the risk of cardiovascular disease. Primary treatment for the metabolic syndrome is life style therapy i.e. weight loss, increased physical activity and antiatherogenic diet. As the condition progresses, drug therapies may be required to ameliorate the individual risk factors. Ultimately, it may be possible to develop drugs that will simultaneously modify all the risk factors. However, they are under development and so far have not reached the level of clinical practice.