The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 274 No 7348 p539
7 May 2005

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New global definition of metabolic syndrome launched

A new worldwide definition of the metabolic syndrome has been launched by the International Diabetes Federation.

The definition defines a person as having the metabolic syndrome if they have central obesity (>=94cm for Europid [white Caucasian of European origin] men and >=80cm for Europid women, with ethnicity specific values for other groups) and also have, or are on specific treatment for, any two of the following factors:

· Raised triglycerides (>=1.7mmol/L)
· Reduced high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (<0.9mmol/L in males and <1.1mmol/L in females)
· Raised blood pressure (systolic BP >=130mmHg or diastolic >=85mmHg)
· Raised fasting plasma glucose (>=5.6mmol/L)

Existing guidelines put forward by the World Health Organization and the National Cholesterol Education Programme were, the IDF says, not intended to provide exact diagnostic criteria. “The existence of multiple definitions for the metabolic syndrome has caused confusion and has resulted in many studies and research papers comparing the merits of each definition,” the IDF says. “It has also proved difficult to make direct comparisons between the data from studies where different definitions have been used to identify the syndrome.”

The definition is available from the IDF website