HEALTH TOPICS 
The metabolic syndrome: Therapy
The metabolic syndrome is a cluster of five closely related cardiovascular risk factors. Each is dangerous in its own right, but when they occur together, the overall risk is greater than the sum of its parts.
Table 1 shows the metabolic syndrome's components. The presence of any three abnormalities is sufficient to establish the diagnosis, but the hazards are even greater when four or five abnormalities are present.
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