Metabolic Syndrome
A cluster of risk factors — central obesity, high blood pressure, abnormal lipids, elevated glucose — that multiplies cardiovascular danger.
Metabolic syndrome is diagnosed when at least three of five flags coexist: large waist circumference, elevated triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, high blood pressure, and elevated fasting glucose. The cluster shares a root system — visceral fat and insulin resistance — and multiplies heart-disease and diabetes risk beyond what each flag suggests alone.
Its clinical usefulness is as a single target: because the flags share causes, they respond together, and sustained weight loss is the intervention that moves all five. Patients starting GLP-1 therapy with metabolic syndrome often watch the whole panel improve across months — blood pressure drifting down, triglycerides falling, waistline shrinking — which is the quiet, chart-level version of what SELECT showed at the event level.
This glossary entry is general information, not medical advice, and is written to be consistent with FDA prescribing information and primary trial publications as of its last review. Always consult a licensed healthcare provider for personal medical decisions.
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