Fifty-eight million Americans are said to suffer from something called metabolic syndrome. But few know what it is or what the diagnosis means to them.

Some believe that people don't know what it is because it's not being diagnosed enough.

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"I think a lot of physicians are not using the term," said Apryl Krause, a naturopathic doctor at InsuliteLabs, a company whose focus is to reverse the diseases caused by insulin resistance. "It's a label, and it's not being utilized."

Who Has Metabolic Syndrome?

Metabolic syndrome is a collection of abnormalities that are linked to insulin resistance. It's meant to identify people who are at increased risk for heart attacks, strokes and peripheral vascular disease, according to Dr. Ananda Basu of the Mayo Clinic's division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, Metabolism and Nutrition.

Insulin resistance can lead to type 2 diabetes. The pancreas produces insulin to control blood sugar, but when the normal amount is unable to get to the cells, the pancreas secretes a higher amount. If the insulin is still unable to break through, this may result in high blood glucose, or type 2 diabetes, according to a site about SyndromeX at Stanford Univesity.

Basu said people who develop metabolic syndrome usually have some or all of the following abnormalities:

High blood pressure

High waist circumfrence

Abnormal triglyceride and cholesterol levels

Diabetes or pre-diabetes

But Krause said the specifications of the syndrome are not clearly identified as of yet.

"There's a little bit of fudging, so it's not exact," she said. "It's considered a syndrome, not a disease. It's a collection of either symptoms leading to disease or a collection of diseases."

There is some debate about whether or not metabolic syndrome is too-often diagnosed, or not known enough.

Confusing Diagnosis

At the 2007 annual meeting of American College of Preventive Medicine, Dr. Mary McGowan of the University of Massachusetts Medical Center discussed her concerns with the factors in the diagnosis.

According to the World Health Organization, a patient must have diabetes or impaired glucose tolerance to have metabolic syndrome. But the National Cholesterol Education program said only that a patient must have three of five symtoms

"So, there are many different ways to diagnose metabolic syndrome," McGowan said at the conference. "And this may result in some patients being falsely reassured, while others may be needlessly or excessively worried."

'Totally Reversible'

Basu said he believes the syndrome is not identified enough.

"We will need to campaign in various ways to increase awareness," he said.

At the Mayo Clinic, a new cardio-metabolic clinic incorporates medical counseling, an exercise prescription program, dietary advice and behavioral therapies by expert professionals for patients with the syndrome.

He said all these elements are aspects that could reverse the condition.

"Therapeutic lifestyle changes with weight management, regular physical exercise and dietary manipulations will clearly improve all the components of this syndrome and hopefully prevent catastrophic complications in the form of heart attacks and strokes," he said. "In addition, drug therapy to treat each of the individual components of the syndrome ... will add to the benefits and lower the risk."

Krause said she often gets two reactions from patients when she tells them the syndrome can be cured with a less sedentary lifestyle.

"It's all about changing their lifestyles," she said. "I have patients sit there and look at me. Sometimes they're excited, sometimes it's a blank stare. Some people want to get better, but some people don't want to hear exercise and diet. If you're willing to do that and make the changes, then yeah, it's totally reversible." Other Features:

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