Resumen

MERCHAN V, Alonso. Metabolic syndrome, diabetes and heart failure. Acta Med Colomb [online]. 2005, vol.30, n.3, pp.150-154. ISSN 0120-2448.

Metabolic syndrome (MS) consists of a series of risk factors, all of them associated with visceral fat leading to a high risk of developing cardiovascular disease or type II diabetes mellitus. Emphasis has been made on this syndrome in recent years due to the increasingly high prevalence of obesity and type-II diabetes world wide. Multiple classifications have been proposed, making it difficult to standardize studies and outcomes regarding the risk of cardiovascular disease. The International Diabetes Federation has proposed recently a new classification which is expected to be implemented throughout the world. The purpose of this paper is to emphasize the risk of cardiovascular disease associated with metabolic syndrome.

Palabras clave : metabolic syndrome; cardiovascular disease; diabetes mellitus; abnormal fasting glycemia; glucose intolerance; visceral obesity; waist circumference; hypertriglyceridemia; high-density cholesterol.