You know that your blood pressure is a little high, so you exercise a bit more. Or maybe your HDL ("good") cholesterol reading is lower than it ought to be, so you try to make better food choices. Those steps are beneficial, but by focusing on separate concerns you might be missing the bigger picture found in your overall health profile.

When certain problems occur in the same person, it's called metabolic syndrome. The name can be confusing, because metabolic syndrome isn't a disease. It means you have several risk factors that, when clustered together, markedly increase your chances of developing life-threatening conditions such as heart disease, stroke or peripheral vascular disease as well as type 2 diabetes.

What should you watch for? If you have three of the following risk factors, you're considered to have metabolic syndrome:

• Your waist is 35 inches or more (for men, greater than 40 inches).
• You've been told you're insulin resistant, or are taking medication for high glucose levels, or your fasting blood glucose level is 110mg/dL or higher.
• The triglycerides in your bloodstream are 150 mg/dL or higher.
• Your HDL ("good") cholesterol level is below 50 mg/dL (below 40 mg/dL for men), or you're taking medication to raise your HDL level.
• You've been told you have high blood pressure (hypertension), or are taking medication for it, or have a blood pressure level at or above 130/85.

Anyone can develop metabolic syndrome. About 25 percent of Americans over age 20 and 45 percent of those over 50 have the profile. Risk factors are often associated with obesity. Women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) are at higher risk as well.

You can reduce and even eliminate your risks without medication. Talk with your doctor or health care provider about losing weight by reducing saturated fat and LDL ("bad") cholesterol in your diet and becoming more physically active—two ways to improve any of the factors on the metabolic syndrome list.