This new definition should assist both researchers and clinicians
The metabolic syndrome — the clustering of abdominal obesity, dyslipidaemia, hyperglycaemia and hypertension — is a major public health challenge worldwide.1,2 The metabolic syndrome is not benign; it is associated with a substantially elevated risk of type 2 diabetes (5-fold) and of cardiovascular disease (CVD) (2–3-fold),1 and its increasing prevalence could possibly reverse the gains made through recent declining CVD mortality.
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- 1 International Diabetes Institute, Caulfield, VIC.
- 2 Imperial College, London, UK.
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