Overview

Patients with metabolic syndrome (also called Syndrome-X) are at greatly increased risk of developing heart disease (2 to 4 times as likely) or diabetes (four to 25 times as likely), depending on how many risk factors (3 or 4) they present with (see below).

Please see conventional, complementary, and alternative medical treatments for important background information regarding the different types of medical treatments discussed on this page. Naturopathic, Complementary, and Alternative treatments that may be considered include:

Diagnosis

Diagnosis of metabolic syndrome requires that a patient present with at least three of the following five symptoms:
  • Abdominal obesity (40 inches in men, 35 inches in women).
  • Elevated fasting blood triglycerides (above 150).
  • Decreased HDL ("good") blood cholesterol (less than 40).
  • Elevated blood pressure (above 130/85).
  • Elevated fasting blood sugar (above 110).

Treatment

  • Weight loss is generally effective at resolving the symptoms of metabolic syndrome.
  • If the patient is hypothyroid, correcting that condition is a priority - in many cases all other symptoms will resolve with effective treatment of hypothyroidism; desiccated thyroid appears to be superior to synthetic hormones for this purpose [Starr2005, pg 164], [Zondek1944], [Hertoghe1915], [Siegal2001].

References