Obesity, hypertension and the metabolic syndrome

The prevalence of obesity in both developed and devel-oping countries has increased dramatically in recent years. Many people who are obese develop metabolic changes that increase the risk of diabetes mellitus and adverse cardiovascu-lar outcomes. Obesity leads to the development of insulin resistance, lipid abnormalities and increased blood pressure. The metabolic syndrome was designated as a way to easily identify individuals that tend to have a clustering of cardio-vascular risk factors. Central obesity is one of the main deter-minants of the metabolic syndrome and is essential for the defi-nition of metabolic syndrome according to the recent Interna-tional Diabetes Federation worldwide definition of metabolic syndrome.