It is estimated that about 50 million U.S. adults have the metabolic syndrome. Nearly one in four women has that syndrome -- but doesn't know it!

Because of its close association with insulin resistance, in which the body can’t use insulin efficiently, metabolic syndrome is also called the insulin resistance syndrome, or pre-diabetic syndrome.

People with this syndrome are at increased risk of

• coronary heart disease and other diseases related to plaque buildups in artery walls (e.g., stroke and peripheral vascular disease) and
• type 2 diabetes.

According to the current criteria, the metabolic syndrome is identified by the presence of three or more of the following components:

• Central obesity, the so called apple figure, present in most people with insulin resitance, as measured by waist circumference: in men - greater than 40 inches, or >101 cm; in women - greater than 35 inches, or >89 cm
• High blood pressure: greater than or equal to 130/85 mmHg
• Pre-diabetes: fasting glucose greater than or equal to 110 mg/dL, or 6.1 mmol/L.
• High blood triglycerides: greater than or equal to 199 mg/dL, or 2.3 mmol/L
• Low blood HDL-"good" cholesterol: in men - less than 45 mg/dL, or <1.2 mmol/L; in women - less than 55 mg/dL, or <1.4 mmol/L

In other words, you are at risk for the insulin resistance syndrome, if you have three or more of these symptoms.

If not controlled properly, this syndrome can also lead to:

• non-alcoholic fatty liver
• colon cancer or
• ovarian cancer.

• central obesity (with a waist circumference, at the navel, to hip circumference ratio of more than 0.8 or with a body mass index over 27)
• a strong family history of diabetes
• a history of gestational diabetes in pregnancy
• a history of hypertension
• dyslipidemia especially having low HDL cholesterol and high triglycerides, and
• polycystic ovary syndrome.

Another strong predictor in women is a skin change called acanthosis nigricans which is a velvety, mossy, flat warty-like, darkened skin change occurring at

• the neck
• the armpits (axillae) and
• underneath the breasts.

Almost 90 percent of women with these skin changes have insulin resisitance. Additionally, insulin resistance may be worsened by

Therefore, in order to prevent heart and blood vessel disease, correcting your blood triglyceride level should be your priority.

Type 2 diabetes is a nasty, degenerative illness which will gradually and slowly suck the life out of you and contribute to a miserable existence.

It can damage many of the body systems leading to such serious medical complications as

Diabetes is associated with one-third of the heart attacks and two-thirds of the strokes.

• heart disease (heart attack, stroke) - the most common consequence
• cataracts and/or glaucoma, leading to blindness (due to retinopathy)
• repeated urinary tract infections (UTIs)
• kidney damage
• erectal impotence (in men)
• amputations from gangrene and/or from damage to nerves (neuropathy).

Among the urologic complications of diabetes mellitus, the most common form of organic sexual dysfunction in male diabetics is erectile impotence (up to 75 percent of male patients who had diabetes for 15 - 20 years suffer from this).

Approximately 25 percent of over 18 million diabetics in the United States will develop foot problems and 6 to 10 percent will undergo amputation.

HbA1c test is used primarily to monitor the overall blood glucose (sugar) control of diabetics for the past two to three months. Periodic determinations of glycated hemoglobin provide an accurate time-averaged reflection of patient glucose levels and the effectiveness of the control of diabetes.

This test was introduced as a routine test in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It measures how much glucose is spontaneously attached to hemoglobin A cells - the primary form of hemoglobin in adults and the part of the blood carrying oxygen in the red blood cells. As the hemoglobin floats around in the blood, it picks up glucose in about the same proportion as the glucose that exists in the bloodstream. This combination of glucose and hemoglobin A is called HbA1c, or glycohemoglobin. HbA1c levels do not change quickly but will shift as older red blood cells die and younger ones take their place. Since the red blood cells have a 120-day life span in the body before they are recycled, the "glucose coating" of a sample of hemoglobin can be measured.

The HbA1c test results are generally expressed as a percentage of total hemoglobin. For people without diabetes, the normal range is between 4 and 6 percent. For most people with diabetes the HbA1c goal should be less than 7 percent, according to the American Diabetes Association. In other words, if the HbA1c number is less than 7, blood glucose control is “good.” An HbA1c number higher than 8, or between 7 and 9, means that your glucose control is “average” so you need to take action as you are at a greater risk of developing eye disease, kidney disease, or nerve damage.

A number greater than 9 means your diabetes control is “poor,” meaning that your blood glucose is too high and you are at serious risk of developing the long-term diabetes complications. In other words, the closer a diabetic can keep the HbA1c to 6 percent, the better his or her diabetes is in control. The poorer the glucose control, the higher the HbA1c result will be. Therefore, lowering the HbA1c number – by any amount – can improve the chances of staying healthy.

Frequency of HbA1c testing depends on 1) the type of diabetes, 2) how well diabetes is controlled, and 3) on a doctor. The American Diabetes Association recommends testing HbA1c:

• 4 times each year - if you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes and use insulin, or
• 2 times each year – if you have type 2 diabetes and do not use insulin, or
• more frequently – if your diabetes control is not good.

Because HbA1c test measures average glycemia it will not reflect temporary, acute blood glucose increases or decreases in someone with “brittle diabetes,” also known as “unstable diabetes,” or “labile diabetes” - when a blood sugar level often swings quickly from high to low and from low to high. It can result in some individuals only achieving their treatment goal at the expense of a poor quality of life, as a result of frequent, disabling, and unpredictable hypoglycemia.

It should be also noted that there are many factors which may falsely lower HbA1c results, such as anemia, uremia, alcoholism, high levels of blood lipids, and nutritional supplements.

Because many individuals do not know that they are pre-diabetic or diabetic, it is important for both the man and woman to insist that their treating physician measure their fasting insulin.

Because even if you think "everything is OK", when you find out you are "sicker than you think” you may be inclined to change your diet, exercise or medication program.

With insulin levels, the lower the better. A normal fasting insulin level is less than 10 mIU/ml. Howeve, below 5 mIU/ml is good, but 2 mIU/ml or 3 mIU/ml would be far better.

Strong diabetic control, namely, stable blood sugars and tight low insulin, is most important in avoiding the terrible complications and end-stage processes of diabetes such as

Nutritional factors are naturally occurring substances, not drugs whose substances are foreign to the body. And, according to orthomolecular nutrition, if the right building blocks (nutrients) are present in the body - in the right amounts and at the right time - the body will do the rest.

In other words, Triglyceride Reduction TGs Formula has been designed to bring the triglycerides down to normal by providing optimal concentrations of all necessary vitamins, anti-oxidants, lipotropic factors, chelated minerals, trace minerals, and digestive enzymes.