Health messages about the ‘Metabolic Syndrome’ (‘Apple Shape’/ ‘Syndrome X’) have been out there for a while but I find there is still a lot of confusion around. At it’s simplest, I like to think of it as a red warning signal telling us take care of our health whilst there is still time to prevent the onset of heart disease and other chronic conditions like diabetes.
It’s a real credit to medical science that we now have so much information about how things may ‘look’ when people are starting off on this road to chronic illness. I think what is needed now is more targeted support to enable people to understand better what may be happening in their bodies and take practical steps to make a u-turn and get on a different road to better health. My plans for 2010 include some brand new Nutritional Courses for men and women who have Metabolic Syndrome & those who don’t have the diagnosis but are worried about an expanding waistline, high blood pressure or other important symptoms (see below) . I’ll be working individually with everyone on the course to make sure the nutritional programme is tailored to them as well as providing weekly group sessions where we learn more about the science behind some of the recommended nutrition and lifestyle changes. I think successful long term change is so much easier if we actually understand more about why it’s important for us as individuals. I’m in the middle of writing up the programme at the moment -it’s very exciting and I can’t wait to get going when the new year hits!
For now, here are the signs and symptoms to look out for….
If you have 3 of these you may be diagnosed as having metabolic syndrome. If you have any one of these, seek medical advice for further assessment and a check on the other symptoms so you can start making changes now if you are at risk. With health, the ‘head in the sand approach’ is never a good thing- check it out so you can take some control and keep yourself as well as you can for as long as you can :
- Increased waist circumference (≥ 102 cm in men and ≥ 88 cm in women; ≥ 90 cm in Asian men and ≥ 80 cm in Asian women), indicating central obesity (‘fat around the middle’)
- Elevated triglycerides (fats in the blood)
- Decreased HDL cholesterol (‘good cholesterol’)
- Blood pressure > 130/85 mm Hg or active treatment for hypertension
- Fasting plasma (blood) glucose level > 5.6 mmol/l or active treatment for hyperglycaemia
More about the New Nutritional Courses in future posts – watch this space. Or, if you want to get in early, drop me a line for more information and you’ll be the first to know when the first run of dates are released in January
Happy holidays. And remember to boost up those vegetables on the Xmas dinner!