The 21st Century Epidemic
Metabolic Syndrome
By Steven V. Joyal, MD
Dropping dead from a heart attack, being crippled by a catastrophic stroke, having limbs amputated as a result of peripheral vascular disease — these are among the frightening consequences of vascular disease, the number-one killer of Americans.
Metabolic syndrome and its associated condition of insulin resistance pose a major threat to cardiovascular health that most health care practitioners do not even discuss with their patients. Remarkably, the public knows very little about this silent but deadly condition, and many affected individuals are not even aware that metabolic syndrome is inflicting severe damage to their arteries and brain cells.
The news media and health care providers pay almost no attention to the epidemic of insulin resistance, the fundamental cause of metabolic syndrome.
To avoid the potentially disastrous cardiovascular consequences of metabolic syndrome, you need to understand:
Metabolic syndrome is characterized by insulin resistance. Before explaining insulin resistance, we need to understand what insulin is and how it acts in the body.
A hormone produced in the pancreas, insulin’s major function is to regulate blood sugar, or glucose, levels. Insulin helps to shuttle glucose molecules from the blood into the cells of the body. When blood sugar levels increase, insulin output increases.
Insulin resistance means that insulin does not work optimally at its target tissue — such as muscle, fat, or liver tissue — to drive glucose into cells. This has numerous adverse consequences, including glucose and insulin levels that are much higher than normal. As the body attempts to overcompensate for poor insulin action by pumping out more insulin from the pancreas, insulin levels rise. Eventually, over time, the pancreas can “burn out” and no longer produce enough insulin to control blood sugar. When insulin levels are not sufficient to bring blood sugar levels down to the normal range, type II diabetes mellitus can result.
The gold standard for measuring insulin resistance is a very complex procedure called a “hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp” that is offered at specialized academic medical research centers. In this two-hour procedure, insulin is infused intravenously at a constant rate according to body weight. At the same time, glucose is infused intravenously at a variable rate to balance out the insulin infusion. The rate of glucose infusion into blood during the last 30 minutes of the test determines insulin sensitivity.
Fortunately, to help determine your risk of insulin resistance, you do not have to travel to an academic medical center to have the “hyper-insulinemic euglycemic clamp” performed; instead, you need only undergo some simple blood tests.
Certain blood tests such as fasting insulin can serve as surrogate markers for insulin resistance. Excess insulin (fasting hyperinsulinemia) is defined when levels equal to or greater than 15 µU/mL are found. These higher fasting insulin levels are associated with insulin resistance.1 Other blood tests that are very useful in evaluating the risk of insulin resistance include serum triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Triglycerides equal to or greater than 130 mg/dL and a triglyceride:HDL ratio equal to or above 3.0 suggest a high risk of insulin resistance.1 In fact, the Life Extension Foundation has consistently advocated even lower levels of triglycerides (less than 100 mg/dL) as being optimal.
ARE YOU AT RISK FOR METABOLIC SYNDROME?
Having your fasting insulin, triglycerides, and HDL checked can help you determine whether you are at risk for insulin resistance.
The following values indicate that you are at risk for insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome:
CLICK FOR THE TEST: DO YOU HAVE METABOLIC SYNDROME?
WOMEN WHO THINK THEY MAY HAVE PCOS/ INSULIN RESISTANCE -- CLICK HERE
By Steven V. Joyal, MD
Dropping dead from a heart attack, being crippled by a catastrophic stroke, having limbs amputated as a result of peripheral vascular disease — these are among the frightening consequences of vascular disease, the number-one killer of Americans.
Metabolic syndrome and its associated condition of insulin resistance pose a major threat to cardiovascular health that most health care practitioners do not even discuss with their patients. Remarkably, the public knows very little about this silent but deadly condition, and many affected individuals are not even aware that metabolic syndrome is inflicting severe damage to their arteries and brain cells.
The news media and health care providers pay almost no attention to the epidemic of insulin resistance, the fundamental cause of metabolic syndrome.
To avoid the potentially disastrous cardiovascular consequences of metabolic syndrome, you need to understand:
- What metabolic syndrome is and how to determine whether you meet its diagnostic criteria (a tape measure, a blood pressure cuff, and some simple blood tests are all you need).
- How to identify the risk of insulin resistance through simple blood tests.
- Why body weight is NOT very important for metabolic health, but body composition is critical.
- How a simple but very effective program — and not the latest fad diet — can dramatically reduce your risk for insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome.
- Which nutritional supplements can help reduce your risk of insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. (These include two promising supplements derived from water-soluble extracts of cinnamon and coffee — one of which targets the same hormone that multibillion-dollar pharmaceutical companies tout as key to the next breakthrough therapy for metabolic disease.)
Metabolic syndrome is characterized by insulin resistance. Before explaining insulin resistance, we need to understand what insulin is and how it acts in the body.
A hormone produced in the pancreas, insulin’s major function is to regulate blood sugar, or glucose, levels. Insulin helps to shuttle glucose molecules from the blood into the cells of the body. When blood sugar levels increase, insulin output increases.
Insulin resistance means that insulin does not work optimally at its target tissue — such as muscle, fat, or liver tissue — to drive glucose into cells. This has numerous adverse consequences, including glucose and insulin levels that are much higher than normal. As the body attempts to overcompensate for poor insulin action by pumping out more insulin from the pancreas, insulin levels rise. Eventually, over time, the pancreas can “burn out” and no longer produce enough insulin to control blood sugar. When insulin levels are not sufficient to bring blood sugar levels down to the normal range, type II diabetes mellitus can result.
The gold standard for measuring insulin resistance is a very complex procedure called a “hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp” that is offered at specialized academic medical research centers. In this two-hour procedure, insulin is infused intravenously at a constant rate according to body weight. At the same time, glucose is infused intravenously at a variable rate to balance out the insulin infusion. The rate of glucose infusion into blood during the last 30 minutes of the test determines insulin sensitivity.
Fortunately, to help determine your risk of insulin resistance, you do not have to travel to an academic medical center to have the “hyper-insulinemic euglycemic clamp” performed; instead, you need only undergo some simple blood tests.
Certain blood tests such as fasting insulin can serve as surrogate markers for insulin resistance. Excess insulin (fasting hyperinsulinemia) is defined when levels equal to or greater than 15 µU/mL are found. These higher fasting insulin levels are associated with insulin resistance.1 Other blood tests that are very useful in evaluating the risk of insulin resistance include serum triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Triglycerides equal to or greater than 130 mg/dL and a triglyceride:HDL ratio equal to or above 3.0 suggest a high risk of insulin resistance.1 In fact, the Life Extension Foundation has consistently advocated even lower levels of triglycerides (less than 100 mg/dL) as being optimal.
ARE YOU AT RISK FOR METABOLIC SYNDROME?
Having your fasting insulin, triglycerides, and HDL checked can help you determine whether you are at risk for insulin resistance.
The following values indicate that you are at risk for insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome:
- Fasting insulin >= 15 µU/mL
- Triglycerides >= 130 mg/dL
- Triglycerides:HDL ratio >= 3.0.
CLICK FOR THE TEST: DO YOU HAVE METABOLIC SYNDROME?
WOMEN WHO THINK THEY MAY HAVE PCOS/ INSULIN RESISTANCE -- CLICK HERE
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