Introduction: the metabolic cardiovascular syndrome.
During the last few years new knowledge concerning risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVD) has emerged. Many of these are metabolically interrelated. The clustering of a variety of metabolic disorders in individuals prone to develop CVD has led to the launching of the so-called metabolic cardiovascular syndrome (MCVS). At the XIIIth Scandinavian Congress of Cardiology in Oslo, Norway, on June 1991, a satellite symposium was arranged on the MCVS. The present supplement comprises articles written by the symposium speakers, who are all experts in various fields of relevance to the MCVS. In addition, Per Björntorp, Stevo Julius, and Arne Westheim were invited to contribute articles to make the coverage of the topic more complete. The present introduction summarizes some of the clinical and biochemical features characteristic of the MCVS, with a special reference to the multiplicity of biochemical changes. The possibilities for at least three basic disorders being of primary or causal importance in different individuals are stressed. These are chronic sympathetic overactivity, insulin resistance, and central or visceral obesity. By including the related changes in the hemostatic systems with "hypercoagulability" and "hypofibrinolysis," whereby the importance of thrombosis for the clinically often dramatic complications of the MCVS is stressed, the more specific name atherothrombogenic syndrome (ATS) has been proposed. The non-pharmacological treatment of the syndrome with low-caloric diet and physical exercise is emphasized.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Arnesen
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Department of Internal Medicine, Ullevål University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D003327:Coronary Disease / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008659:Metabolic Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D012307:Risk Factors; D013577:Syndrome