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What is Metabolic Syndrome?

Peripheral Cushing's, Metabolic Syndrome, Syndrome X...these terms all basically describe the same condition. 'Syndrome X' was originally proposed in human medicine, by Gerald Reaven, and consists of the following symptoms:

• Impaired glucose tolerance (insulin resistance)
• Hyperinsulinaemia (high insulin levels)
• Elevated triglycerides (blood fats)
• Low HDL cholesterol
• Exaggerated post prandial lipaemia (slow clearance of fat from the blood)
• Smaller, more dense LDL cholesterol particles
• Increased propensity of blood to form clots
• Decreased ability to dissolve blood clots
• Elevated blood pressure

The following factors worsen the condition:

• Obesity
• Lack of physical activity
• The wrong diet

Many of these symptoms have not been fully examined yet in horses, but it is acknowledged that a state very similar to human Syndrome X may exist.

Additionally, medical articles have been published in which metabolic syndrome is described as a mild case of Cushing's syndrome. Other research proposes a chain of events from insulin resistance and glucose tolerance problems, to metabolic syndrome, to full-blown Cushing's syndrome.

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