Scientists with the Washington University of Medicine in St. Louis have isolated five genetic factors that may increase the risk of metabolic syndrome, and one factor that appears to protect against it.

People with metabolic syndrome - who are usually overweight - present at least three of the following five conditions: abdominal fat, high levels of bad cholesterol, low levels of good cholesterol, high blood pressure, and elevated fasting blood glucose.

Metabolic syndrome is dangerous because those who have it are four times more likely to develop heart disease and seven times more likely to become diabetic than are individuals who do not have the disorder.

The St. Louis researchers examined DNA from 2000 people and found that the gene variations that predicted metabolic syndrome in prior animal studies carried over into human genetics.

This study, which was financed by the National Institute of Health, was published in the June edition of the journal Human Molecular Genetics.

Labels: genetics, metabolism

A recent study lead by Professor John Morrison at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center shows that overweight children with high cholesterol, blood pressure and sugar levels are at an increased risk for heart disease or strokes.

"But losing weight significantly lowered health risks. 'This indicates [the risk of heart disease and stroke are] not hard-wired. Some clearly are more susceptible, but susceptibility isn't the same as inevitability,' says William Dietz, who heads the division of nutrition, physical activity and obesity at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

The condition that Morrison studied is called pediatric metabolic syndrome, and is indicated by the presence of at three of the following factors: excess weight, low HDL (the good cholesterol), high triglycerides, high blood pressure and high blood sugar levels. Morrison found that weight was the key driver of the condition. Read more at LangingStateJournal.com.

While being overweight or obese isn't healthy, neither is teenage drug addiction. Learn what signs to look for at Adolescent-Substance-Abuse.com.

Labels: genetics, health_risks, heart_disease