The Metabolic Syndrome

In the United States, 40 to 45% of those over 60 years of age have the metabolic syndrome (1,2,3), and this percentage, based on estimates of the increasing prevalence ofexcess body weight and the more comprehensive diagnostic criteria for the syndrome, is likely to exceed 60% in newer survey analyses. With an extraordinary need for early intervention and prevention to slow or halt its progression, Metabolic Syndrome is one of the most challenging health problems. Only through an understanding of the science underlying this syndrome can successful interventions be developed and implemented. In The Metabolic Syndrome: Epidemiology, Clinical Treatment, and Underlying Mechanisms, the writers stimulate new thinking concerning underlying mechanisms and encourage heightened efforts to develop new therapeutics, potentially targeting uniquely intersecting pathways. Developing this new synthesis and analysis of the Metabolic Syndrome will bring together the viewpoints of epidemiologists, physiologists, molecular biologists/biochemists, and clinicians toward understanding the current state of knowledge of both the causes and consequences of the Metabolic Syndrome.