Metabolic syndrome is a medical term used to describe a number of conditions that can increase your risk of heart disease. Some of the risk factors include diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. According to the Centers for Disease Control, approximately 30 percent of adults in the United States suffer from metabolic syndrome. Here we look into how insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome are corelated.
When you eat food, your body transforms the food into glucose, which is a form of sugar. The pancreas produces a hormone called insulin. Insulin helps transport glucose into the cells in your body where the glucose is then used as energy.
If the body’s tissues and cells stop responding to insulin, insulin resistance occurs. When you suffer from insulin resistance, your body will begin producing more and more insulin. Because your cells do not properly respond to the insulin created in the pancreas, your body will not be able to properly utilize glucose.
Insulin resistance goes hand in hand with a number of health issues, including high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, and diabetes. When you have several of these medical issues at the same time, this is referred to as metabolic syndrome. These health issues increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, stroke and type 2 diabetes. Other names for this condition include syndrome X and insulin resistance syndrome.
Metabolic syndrome does not have a specific set of signs or symptoms; however, there are numerous indicators of metabolic syndrome. For example-
A number of health issues act together and cause metabolic syndrome. Some common causes that increase your risk of developing metabolic syndrome include-
When you visit your health care provider, s/he will perform a physical exam along with a few blood tests. If three or more of the following are true, you may be diagnosed with metabolic syndrome:
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