Obesity Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Obesity, including details on health, diet, prevention, exercise.

Abdominal obesity and metabolic syndrome.

Després JP, Lemieux I

Québec Heart Institute, Hôpital Laval Research Centre, 2725 chemin Sainte-Foy, Pavilion Marguerite-D'Youville, 4th Floor, Quebec City, QC G1V 4G5, Canada. jean-pierre.despres@crhl.ulaval.ca

Metabolic syndrome is associated with abdominal obesity, blood lipid disorders, inflammation, insulin resistance or full-blown diabetes, and increased risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Proposed criteria for identifying patients with metabolic syndrome have contributed greatly to preventive medicine, but the value of metabolic syndrome as a scientific concept remains controversial. The presence of metabolic syndrome alone cannot predict global cardiovascular disease risk. But abdominal obesity - the most prevalent manifestation of metabolic syndrome - is a marker of 'dysfunctional adipose tissue', and is of central importance in clinical diagnosis. Better risk assessment algorithms are needed to quantify diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk on a global scale.

Published 14 December 2006 in Nature, 444(7121): 881-7.
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