getting diabetes)
• High triglyceride levels (another type of “fat” that increases the risk of heart disease)
(I should point out that concepts about the metabolic syndrome are still evolving - in fact, some experts claim it doesn’t even exist – so it may be that the exact constituents of the metabolic syndrome vary in other articles you check out, but for now, I’ll stick with the foregoing list).
.....So why does this contentious syndrome matter so much to all of us? Well, this is unlikely to put you off your morning triple-glazed donuts (or double-cheeseburger and fries if you’re reading this during lunch), but the reason the metabolic syndrome matters so much is that Canadians are getting fatter by the minute (some even by the second), and in turn, these ever bigger (young and old) people, many of whom also have the other changes that are consistent with the metabolic syndrome, are at a significantly higher risk of suffering all those – largely preventable – complications that have been linked with the metabolic syndrome: heart attacks, strokes, diabetes, neurological damage, amputations, kidney failure, recurrent severe infections, visits to the doctor to stock up on Viagra for their ED, recurrent hospitalizations, blood clot disorders, abnormal heart rhythms, sleep apnea, depression, chronic pain, to name just a few. And we all have to pay for that.
.....Before we plunge on to discuss what to do about this mess, though, let’s first discuss how you determine your appropriate weight level. Body Mass Index (BMI), a crude measure of weight versus height, is the standard used in most studies. Thus, a BMI of 18-24 is considered normal, a BMI over 25 puts you in the overweight category, and a BMI over 30 means you’re obese.
.....Clearly, though, as everyone has surely noticed (and if you didn’t, hey, put aside that double frappuccino with whipped cream because it’s making your brain fuzzy), BMI doesn’t take into account where your pounds are stored. Yet, where you store your fat matters a great deal in determining your risks from excess weight because weight stored around the middle – in the classic “apple” shape (and for many of us, it’s now more of a “watermelon” shape, of course) – is a lot more hazardous to your health than weight stored around the hips – the classic “pear” shape. So, to determine your risk of ending up with the metabolic syndrome, you’re more interested in your abdominal circumference than you are in your BMI. I won’t depress you with the exact numbers here, but suffice it to say that if you think your middle is too big, it is. |
|
|
WHERE PEOPLE COME
FIRST