Volume 8 Issue 9 September, 2018
Greetings to everyone from the editorial team of MINDS.
Metabolic syndrome is a condition which has been the matter of research and discussion in the recent times. Among patients with psychiatric disorders specially, this condition has been gaining a lot of attention. It is a comorbid condition in bipolar mood disorder, schizophrenia, anxiety disorder, substance use disorders etc. Metabolic syndrome among patients with psychiatric disorders may be due to various causes like, developmental/genetic factors, poor physical activity and psychotropic drugs. This may affect the life span of the individuals afflicted with this condition. The mortality is mostly from cardiovascular complications. The outcome is even poor if there is obesity during childhood/adolescence. It is diagnosed if three or more of the following are present; abdominal obesity, high triglyceride, low HDL cholesterol,
hypertension, elevated fasting glucose. Patients with mental disorders and those receiving psychotropic drugs should be routinely screened for this condition by monitoring the BP weight, waist circumference, blood sugar and lipid profile at regular intervals. Lifestyle modification has been the most effective modality in managing or preventing metabolic syndrome. Challenging situations would be the patients with negative symptoms (of schizophrenia) and cognitive impairment. Nonetheless, efforts should always be made to educate the patient about this condition.
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