How is metabolic syndrome diagnosed?

Although the condition is still one that is much-debated, there are a number of measures and criteria that have been put in place to help in diagnosing metabolic syndrome. According to these criteria, if you are found to have three of the following traits or more, or you are taking medicine to control them, you are likely to have the condition.  

The criteria are assessed by your doctor through a number of tests and are as follows:  

• You suffer from obesity or are overweight and carry a large amount of weight around your  In men, this refers to your waist being larger than 101cm (40 inches) and for women, it means your waist is larger than 89cm (35 inches) all the way around.  
• Your blood sugar is abnormally high and is increasing, being 100 mg/dL or higher. 
• Your blood pressure is abnormally high, being 130/85 mm Hg or  
• You have an abnormally low HDL (high-density lipoprotein), being lower than 40 mg/dLin men or less than 50mg/dL in women. This HDL cholesterol is known as the good kind of cholesterol.  
• The amount of fat found in your blood is high, being a triglyceride level over 150mg/dL.