English researchers have identified a deadly trio of health problems that can triple the risk of dying — and high cholesterol isn’t one of the ingredients in the lethal recipe.
A combination of high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and obesity doubles the risk of having a heart attack, and people who have all three conditions have a three-fold greater chance of dying compared with healthy people, according to the researchers at the University of Warwick in Coventry, England.
The three indicators are major contributors to developing metabolic syndrome, a combination of medical disorders that increases the risk of developing several deadly diseases, including cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
The top health problems usually linked with metabolic syndrome are high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglyceride levels, too much sugar in the blood, and central obesity (too much fat around the waistline).
But Dr. Oscar Franco, assistant clinical professor of public health at Warwick Medical School and leader of the research team, found that the three most deadly factors linked with developing metabolic syndrome are high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and central obesity.
“Metabolic syndrome is a highly prevalent condition that is increasing dramatically and affects a large portion of the middle-age population,” Franco said. “Not all individuals enter the syndrome with identical combination of factors. Certain combinations confer higher risks of incidence of cardiovascular disease and mortality.
"Intense efforts are needed to identify populations with these particular combinations and to provide them with adequate treatment at the early stages of disease,” he said.
However, someone who has just one of the killer indicators won't necessarily develop a serious health problem, Franco said.
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