An extract from an editorial published in The Annals Of Surgery, June 2008
New Insights on Metabolic Syndrome: A “Silent” But Visible Epidemic
Philip E. Donahue, MD, FACS
As surgeons, we evaluate varied problems, depending on our background and experience, but rarely make formal recommendations regarding the abnormalities observed in the metabolic syndrome (MS). The article Ryan et al, from St. James Hospital/Trinity College Dublin which appears in this issue of Annals of Surgery, linking proinflammatory changes with the extent of squamous intestinal metaplasia in a cohort of patients with Barrett epithelium focuses attention on a common problem that should be more widely addressed by the medical community.1 As a surgeon, I readily admit a focus on the “presenting problem” and not on broader questions of health maintenance; this article forced me to recognize that I should be more involved in finding ways to deal with MS, which affects 25% to 45% of the population, depending on ethnicity and sex, and has such a variety of consequences, associated risks, including cardiovascular disease, and an ever widening list of cancers. Download the full editorial in pdf format
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