Treatment: for metabolic syndrome, a change in lifestyle and only then a cure

The first and most important step in the effort to bring the pathologies of metabolic syndrome under control is to change your current lifestyle.

It is important to remember that dietary modification, regular exercise and other measures that serve as prevention of the syndrome are also a key component of treatment.

In the event that radical changes in the experienced functioning of a patient diagnosed with metabolic syndrome are not sufficient, pharmacological treatment comes into play.

By pharmacological treatment we mean treatment with drugs.

Since we cannot consider metabolic syndrome as a disease, we cannot speak of treating the syndrome as such.

The need in this case is to treat all the components of the syndrome, i.e. the five basic pathological conditions that make up the syndrome.

At present, there is no single universal drug that can treat all the components of the syndrome, or at least most of them.

Treatment is therefore carried out separately for each pathological condition, using known and used drugs available on the market.

The primary objective in pharmacological treatment is to reduce the risk of developing a non-cardiac abnormality, i.e. ischaemic heart disease.

Doctors first try to reduce the level of harmful cholesterol in the blood and also to reduce high blood pressure, which have a negative effect on the blood vessels.

The treatment of the different components of the metabolic syndrome involves not only internists with a focus on metabolism, but also cardiologists, psychiatrists and many other specialist doctors.

Secondarily, doctors try to prevent the onset and development of type 2 diabetes if it is not already present in the patient. This is done by lowering blood sugar levels.

If the patient has already developed diabetes, treatment follows the standard procedures used in the treatment of diabetes.

Table of first choice drugs for the treatment of the different components of the metabolic syndrome

At the same time, the problem of overweight or obesity should be addressed. The basis in treatment is dietary modification, appropriate and regular physical activity and other regime changes.

Surgical interventions in the digestive tract are also an option. An example is the gastric banding method. In this procedure, an adjustable band is placed around the stomach, which divides the stomach into two hourglass-shaped parts. This method helps to limit the amount of food intake.

The second method is gastric tubulisation, where the part of the stomach that is responsible for the production of so-called hunger hormones is surgically removed. The patient then does not experience intense hunger during the diet.

Surgical interventions on the stomach lead to a decrease in excess body weight and at the same time to changes in other metabolic parameters - and thus to adjustments in blood glucose and fat levels, as well as blood pressure.

These procedures are called metabolic surgery.