Clinical Use of the Metabolic Syndrome: Why the Confusion?
- Michael Blaha, MD and
- Tom A. Elasy, MD, MPH
Abstract
IN BRIEF
The term “metabolic syndrome” refers to a cluster of risk factors for cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes that occurs as a result of obesity and insulin resistance. Considerable confusion surrounding the precise use of this term in the clinical setting has led to difficulty in assessing the utility of this concept. This article provides a simple framework for understanding the disparate approaches to this syndrome. This understanding will facilitate decision-making regarding the role of the metabolic syndrome in everyday clinical practice.
Footnotes
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Michael Blaha, MD, is a medical house officer at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore Md. Tom A. Elasy, MD, MPH, is medical director of the Vanderbilt Eskind Diabetes Clinic and the Ann and Roscoe R. Robinson Associate Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tenn.
- American Diabetes Association
