ABSTRACT
The metabolic syndrome represents a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors that occur together more commonly than expected from the prevalence of their individual rates (1-5). The definition and diagnostic criteria of the metabolic syndrome are extensively discussed in Chapter 1. Currently there is considerable controversy and confusion about the metabolic syndrome, because its definition includes diagnostic criteria, potential causes, mediators, and consequences, because it is uncertain whether having the syndrome conveys no additional cardiovascular risk than the sum of its components, and because at the present time, having the syndrome does not alter treatment (6-10).
