Spotlight Series: CVD Prevention

Lipids, Diabetes, and the Metabolic Syndrome

Summary

Metabolic abnormalities are the primary factors in the development of atherosclerosis and coronary heart disease. The epidemic of overweight and obesity in the U.S. threaten to dramatically increase the rate of heart disease, premature death, and other complications from atherosclerosis and diabetes. Currently over 2/3 of U.S. adults are overweight or obese, and approximately 1/4 of adults have metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a combination of metabolic abnormalities thought to be due to truncal obesity and insulin resistance. The metabolic syndrome abnormalities include dyslipidemia, hypertension and glucose intolerance. The 10-year risk of a coronary event in a patient with diabetes mellitus is similar to the risk of those patients with known CHD, causing diabetes mellitus to be considered to be a "coronary heart disease risk equivalent" by national guidelines. Treatment approaches for those with dyslipidemia, diabetes, or obesity should include lifestyle change as the cornerstone of treatment, with use of medications for those at significant risk who do not respond to lifestyle changes. This program reviews the importance of 3 critical heart disease risk factors - dyslipidemia, diabetes mellitus, and obesity - and treatment approaches to help patients improve their health.

Learning Objectives

After completing this activity, participants should be able to:

List five risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome
Be able to state the prevalence of diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity in the United States
State evidence-based treatment approaches for diabetes mellitus and dyslipidemia which reduce cardiovascular events

This topic is CME/CE certified by the American Heart Association for physicians, physician's assistants, nurses and pharmacists.

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