While an overweight body status is known to cause premature death and disability, modern medicine continues often to pursue weight loss nostrums, with a frequent unwillingness to treat the underlying metabolic consequences of obesity. The killer component of obesity is often Metabolic Syndrome X, where an expanded waistline is variably associated with hypercholesterolemia, hypertension and hyperinsulinemia.
Obesity must be viewed as a complex diathesis where a constellation of metabolic events produce a wide range of diseases often as a consequence of insulin resistance. About 70 million Americans have Syndrome X, which is clearly linked to the commonest causes of death or premature morbidity. Anti-aging medicine must focus on Advanced Preventive Medicine to combat Syndrome X which has become the most important public health initiative for western society.
Continuing to perceive obesity as primarily a cosmetic issue is retarding improvements in the health of the nation. Syndrome X has been discussed mainly in terms of cardiovascular risk, with its clear contribution to coronary heart disease, heart attack, sudden death and stroke. However, Syndrome X is linked with Type II diabetes mellitus, endocrine disorders, polycystic ovaries (PCOS), non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, steato-hepatitis, gestational diabetes, changes in eicosanoid status, decreased cognitive function, Alzheimer?s disease, gastroesophogeal reflux disease, depressed immunity, cancer and other disorders.
The disease profile of Syndrome X reads like an anti-aging disease compendium (the concept of syndrome X, Y and Z?). The causation of Syndrome X, is multifactorial in origin and related to age, adverse lifestyle, genetic predispositions, sleeplessness, inflammation and environmental toxins. Syndrome X ?loads the gun? of disability or death and menopause or andropause ?pulls the trigger?. Emerging science highlights obesity as an inflammatory disorder (obesitis) and sleep deprivation clearly promotes obesity and Syndrome X. Current management of obesity and Syndrome X has been often focused on individual components of the overall disease profile encountered in Syndrome X,. The new terms Syndrome X,Y and Z? better describe the protean manifestations of this disorder which may be responsive to complex nutritional formulations of nutritional factors for syndrome x..
The routine management of Syndrome X seems to be overlooked often in integrative medicine practice and even more overlooked in allopathic medicine. Syndrome X alters gene expression which can be measured and monitored in its response to natural interventions on Syndrome X. Federal government researchers have endorsed an ?integrated? approach to the management of Syndrome X, but modern medicine has been slow to take advantage of lifestyle, nutritional or nutraceutical interventions which represent the most versatile and powerful first line options to combat Syndrome X,Y and Z. No drug or surgical procedure is on the horizon to combat the obesity epidemic and its related disorders. Anti-aging medicine must address Syndrome X as an urgent priority.