It is well known that hypertension, diabetes, and obesity are each taking a toll on Americans' health, but according to a new analysis, metabolic syndrome, a condition characterized by a combination of these and/or other risk factors, is fast becoming one of the nation's costliest health concerns.
According to new research by Medco Health Solutions, the average yearly pharmacy cost of treating adult patients over age 20 with metabolic syndrome exceeds $4,000, which is more than four times the average annual drug cost for all other patients. It was found that the number of adults being treated for the conditions associated with metabolic syndrome increased more than 36 percent from 2002 to 2004.
Dr. David M. Nathan, professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and director of the Diabetes Center at Massachusetts General Hospital, says that metabolic syndrome, and its components, diabetes and pre-diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and abnormal lipids, appears to be the major public health problem to be faced in the 21st century.
The long-term consequences, including heart disease, stroke, and the other complications of diabetes, can be reduced with aggressive treatment of risk factors, but at a substantial cost. Lifestyle approaches should also decrease metabolic syndrome and its long-term health and economic costs.
Patients with metabolic syndrome have three or more risk factors, which include excessive abdominal fat, hypertension, low amounts of "good" cholesterol (HDL), elevated triglyceride levels, and abnormal blood sugar, and are at a 3.5 times greater risk of death from coronary heart disease, as well as an increased risk of liver and kidney disease, and possibly cancer. It is closely associated with a generalized metabolic disorder in which the body is unable to use insulin efficiently and although some people are genetically disposed, others can develop the syndrome due to excess body fat and physical inactivity.
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