Your day-to-day schedule could be putting you at risk. You sit in front of your computer at your desk all day; hours spent behind the wheel shuttling the kids here and there; fast food on the go; and then just collapsing in the evening. If this sounds familiar you are like millions of U.S. women who could develop metabolic syndrome. This syndrome is a group of risk factors that could lead to such things as diabetes and heart disease. The word syndrome refers to a group of risks—not a particular disease.
There are a few elements of metabolic syndrome including:–a “large” waist. For women this is a waist of 35.2” or more; it is 40” for men–high blood pressure–low levels of HDL or good cholesterol–high levels of triglycerides or blood fats–resistance to insulin
If you have three or more of these characteristics, it is generally believed that you have metabolic syndrome. While health professions don’t understand the causes of this syndrome, they do know that women with it do have a much high risk of dying from heart disease or stroke—up to three times higher. These women also have a much higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes—nine to 30 times higher.
Unfortunately the combination of a larger waist and the high triglyceride levels puts women at an even high risk—these women have a risk factor five times higher than others to have a heart attack or stroke. Basically overweight woman are automatically at risk. Luckily losing weight and exercise can reduce the risks.
So if you believe you are at risk for metabolic syndrome, visit your physician for a complete physical. Your doctor will be able to correctly diagnose and put you on the correct regime to help you fight this syndrome.