title: The epidemic of the metabolic syndrome.
abstract: The incidence of metabolic syndrome (MS) is rising worldwide. This is partly due to a significant increase in the prevalence of obesity. Observational cross-sectional studies as well as demographic health surveys from the Middle East, point out that the prevalence of obesity increases from an average of 6% in healthy children to 20% in adolescent males and to a further 32% in elderly patients. The impact of obesity on our population is expected to be considerable; especially, as it feeds into further rising in the prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, MS and cardiovascular disease. The prevalence of MS in nondiabetic adults in Europe was recently reported to be 15%. In the Middle East, as pointed out by pilot observational projects, is estimated to be anywhere between 15-25%. The medical system is unprepared to deal with this epidemic partly due to scanty knowledge on the clinical significance of the MS and importantly as there is a limited number of specific treatments that we can offer these patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiology, University of Ottawa Heart Institute, Ottawa, Canada.
authors.forename: Wael N
authors.initials: WN
authors.lastname: Elabbassi
authors.forename: Haissam A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Haddad
mesh_terms: D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000628:therapy; D015995:Prevalence