Do you know your health stats?

Metabolic Syndrome, sometimes also referred to as Syndrome X, is a collection of risk factors that make a person more prone to developing heart disease, stroke, or diabetes.

How do you know if you're at risk? Check your stats. If you find that you're not measuring up to healthy standards, you may want to speak with your doctor about starting a regular exercise program and following an appropriate diet.

Now for what I'm sure your final question must be: What are considered unhealthy standards?

• A waistline of 40 inches or more for men and 35 inches or more for women
• Blood pressure of 130/85 mmHg or higher
• Triglyceride level above 150 mg/dl
• Fasting blood glucose level of over 100, mg/dl
• An HDL cholesterol level less than 40 mg/dl for men and 50 mg/dl for women

If some of these numbers seem familiar, you don't need to panic. However, you really shouldn't igrnore the problem, either. Again, the best move would be to talk with your doctor about how you can go about improving your health stats.