Metabolic Syndrome

What Is Metabolic Syndrome?

The term refers to the combination of four frequently occurring severe metabolic diseases in Western industrialized countries. Not without reason is this disease complex also referred to as the "deadly quartet" or the "affluence syndrome." Along with tobacco consumption, it is considered a significant risk factor for developing vascular diseases and the occurrence of heart attacks, strokes, and other cardiovascular crises.

What Diseases Belong to the Metabolic Syndrome?

The metabolic syndrome consists of the following lethal quartet:

• Truncal obesity (body mass index > 25).
• High blood pressure (systolic > 130mmHg, diastolic > 85mmHg)
• Elevated blood lipid levels and uncontrolled cholesterol metabolism (triglycerides > 150mg/dl)
• Insulin resistance, beginning diabetes mellitus (fasting blood glucose > 100mg/dl)

Of course, these four diseases can also occur in isolation from each other, and each of them favors the development of atherosclerosis (vascular calcification).

Causes and Characteristics

Definable causes of obesity are overeating and a lack of physical activity. Chronic elevation of insulin levels due to carbohydrate-rich food triggers an adaptive response in the organism that is accompanied by an increase in insulin receptors on cell membranes. As a result, increasingly higher amounts of insulin are required, and insulin resistance develops. If insulin production capacity in the pancreas is exceeded, blood glucose levels rise above normal. Over a more extended period, this results in type II diabetes mellitus.

Due to insulin resistance, the abdominal fatty tissue around the abdominal organs is increasingly broken down into free fatty acids in the blood. The liver packages these into protein particles for transport to the cells. (Very low-density lipoprotein) These processes result in pathological changes in blood lipid levels and a derailed cholesterol metabolism, which in turn causes vascular calcification (atherosclerosis) to progress. Due to the changes in the walls of the vascular system, blood pressure increases in the long term. This significantly multiplies the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

How Can Metabolic Syndrome Be Treated?

The only causal treatment strategy that eliminates the cause of the metabolic syndrome is weight reduction. All other treatment options have only a symptomatic effect and limit the damage. For example, high blood pressure, insulin resistance, and elevated blood lipid levels can be treated with medication, but such therapeutic measures only scratch the surface of the problem. The best prognosis is a sustainable lifestyle change with a balanced diet, regular physical activity, and avoiding additional risk factors, such as tobacco or excessive alcohol consumption. In cases of severe obesity, surgical stomach reduction may be considered after repeated failed attempts to achieve a healthy weight naturally.

Is Metabolic Syndrome Curable?

Since the described processes are all triggered by obesity, they can be reversed to a certain extent by radical weight reduction, or at least their unstoppable progression and consequential damages (e.g., diabetes mellitus, heart attack) can be prevented. Besides a balanced diet, a sufficient amount of physical activity plays an important role.

What Are the Risks of Metabolic Syndrome?

Due to the pathological processes, the risks for the development of diabetes mellitus, the occurrence of heart attacks and strokes, and the development of fatty liver are drastically increased. Likewise, due to complex immunological mechanisms, a connection between metabolic syndrome and the potential for degeneration can be demonstrated for numerous types of cancer. However, the risk of such fatal diseases can be reduced again through a sustainable change in lifestyle.

Which Doctors and Clinics Are Specialized in Diagnosis and Therapy?

Such a complex disease requires an experienced therapeutic team, especially for the treatment. The focus is on advising and supporting the patient, enabling him to reduce his unhealthy habits and replace them with health-promoting ones. In all cities of the Federal Republic of Germany, there are established specialists for internal medicine who have specialized in the therapy of metabolic syndrome. In addition, many patients benefit from professional nutritional counseling. Conservative treatment is usually carried out on an outpatient basis; only with severe complications that arise or in the case of a surgical stomach reduction, an inpatient hospital stay become necessary.

Every patient who needs a doctor wants the best medical care. Therefore, the patient is wondering where to find the best clinic. As this question cannot be answered objectively and a reliable doctor would never claim to be the best one, we can only rely on a doctor's experience.

We will help you find an expert for your condition. All listed physicians and clinics have been reviewed by us for their outstanding specialization in the field of metabolic syndrome and are awaiting your inquiry or treatment request.

Literature

• www.krebsgesellschaft.de/onko-internetportal/aktuelle-themen/news/weshalb-das-metabolische-syndrom-die-krebsentstehung-foerdert.html
• next.amboss.com/de/article/4g03v2