Will I need to take medicines to treat metabolic syndrome X?

Medications treat metabolic syndrome X by remedying the individual conditions that increase your risk for heart disease and diabetes. Taking an aspirin once a day has been shown to help lower your risk for a heart attack, but such a regimen should only be started after talking to your doctor.

There are medications to treat your body's inability to process insulin. A drug called metformin will cause your body to be more receptive to insulin and allow the insulin to be absorbed by your cells. Antihypertensives are used to help lower your blood pressure through use of diuretics, beta blockers, and ACE inhibitors. Your doctor may also prescribe cholesterol medications to lower the amount of fat in your blood, decrease the LDL, bad cholesterol, or increase the HDL, good cholesterol.

If you are unable to reduce the amount of fat around your midsection by changing your eating habits and getting more physical activity it may be necessary to take prescribed medication to help you lose weight.