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May 7, 2005
Metabolic Syndrome
SURGING SYNDROME: New figures show that $4 of every $10 spent on prescriptions for American adults is going toward treating metabolic syndrome. Medical groups are pushing for family doctors to be more aggressive in testing patients for metabolic syndrome and starting treatment early.
A report by Medco Health Solutions, a huge prescription benefit manager, shows that adult use of medication for the syndrome jumped 36 percent between 2002 and 2004.
Annual prescription costs for people 20 and older with metabolic syndrome averaged $4,116 last year, 4.2 times the average amount spent on drugs for that age group, according to New Jersey-based Medco, which released the data exclusively to The Associated Press. [more here]
What is the metabolic syndrome?
The metabolic syndrome is characterized by a group of metabolic risk factors in one person. They include:
- Central obesity (excessive fat tissue in and around the abdomen)
- Atherogenic dyslipidemia (blood fat disorders — mainly high triglycerides and low HDL cholesterol — that foster plaque buildups in artery walls)
- Raised blood pressure (130/85 mmHg or higher)
- Insulin resistance or glucose intolerance (the body can’t properly use insulin or blood sugar)
- Prothrombotic state (e.g., high fibrinogen or plasminogen activator inhibitor [–1] in the blood)
- Proinflammatory state (e.g., elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein in the blood)
The underlying causes of this syndrome are overweight/obesity, physical inactivity and genetic factors. People with the metabolic syndrome are at increased risk of coronary heart disease, other diseases related to plaque buildups in artery walls (e.g., stroke and peripheral vascular disease) and type 2 diabetes.
more from the American Heart Association
Posted by Diabetologica at May 7, 2005 12:09 PM