We have to be scared of the growing epidemic of Syndrome X. The metabolic Syndrome X is characterized by our expanding waistline, increases in blood pressure, intolerance to simple sugars in our diet and damaging levels of high blood cholesterol. This constellation of health problems found within "Syndrome X of Reaven" or "Syndrome X, Y and Z... of Holt" contributes to much premature death and disability from many diseases.
The U.S. is preoccupied with the obesity epidemic which is only one component of Syndrome X. Foremost in our mind may be attempts to control weight, but this book makes lancinating statements about "fad diets." The authors are clear in their respect for Dr. Robert Atkins' notions about carbohydrate restriction. However, the authors indicate that a low-carbohydrate dietary approach alone may not be enough to defeat Syndrome X and maturity onset diabetes mellitus. Hence, they present their thesis on the value of Syndrome X Nutritional Factors.
Any attempt to quell the growing epidemic of obesity and its complications is a daunting task for every physician, but you will be charged with enthusiasm when you read this book. You will gather optimism as you witness three distinguished medical experts looking at valid alternatives to conventional medical approaches to weight control and Syndrome X.
This book is a unique perspective on how to tackle the metabolic Syndrome X which has become the number one public health initiative that faces Western society. Modern medicine may identify each component of Syndrome X as a key public health problem, but this book emphasizes that the combat against Syndrome X is a singular initiative — all factors must be addressed together. Syndrome X or the metabolic syndrome affects at least one in four of the population (about 70 million Americans), and it is a growing and deadly form of "bioterrorism" induced by adverse lifestyle. It is sad to acknowledge that a concerted attack on the combination of problems within Syndrome X has not yet come to the forefront of conventional medical thinking. Syndrome X is a silent killer that also robs quality of life from adults of all ages. This Syndrome X is comprised of the unfortunate variable association of obesity, high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol and triglycerides linked by the underlying problem of excessive circulating insulin, together with resistance to the actions of insulin. Indeed, one may think about Syndrome X in terms of high blood insulin levels, associated with insulin resistance.
The cardinal set of disorders within Syndrome X increases death from all causes. This syndrome is linked with other common diseases, such as fatty liver, polycystic ovary syndrome, cancer and inflammation. The recognition that Syndrome X extends its pernicious influence beyond cardiovascular deaths has led to an expanded definition of Syndrome X. This expanded definition of Syndrome X has been described in an earlier book by Dr. Stephen Holt, M.D. and termed "Syndrome X, Y and Z...". In this latest book, Dr's. Holt, Wright and Taylor refer to the many diseases other than cardiovascular disease that occur in the framework of the evolving metabolic Syndrome X.
The authors of this book have distinguished backgrounds and they require little introduction given their substantial, collective contributions to the movement of alternative medicine and nutritional interventions for disease. Stephen Holt M.D., T.V. Taylor M.D. and Jonathan V. Wright M.D. are best-selling or distinguished authors and they are experienced and eminent medical practitioners. Dr's. Wright and Molt are pioneers in the practice of "pluralistic medicine." The combat against Syndrome X that is reviewed in this book focuses on the development of evidence-based, natural preventive options and treatments.
I am impressed by the harmony and body of knowledge that the authors bring to the important attempts to defeat the metabolic Syndrome X as it emerges as the nation's number one public health problem. Dr. Holt M.D. is a gastroenterologist and clinical pharmacologist who has made advances in the therapeutics of many disorders and he has published several hundred landmark studies in peer-reviewed scientific literature, including his classic description in the medical journal the Lancet (1979) of the physiological basis of what has been called the Glycemic Index.
Dr. T.V. Taylor M.D. adds much power to this work. He is a surgeon with 30 years of clinical experience and he has published more than 500 scientific articles on many medical topics. Dr. Jonathan V. Wright M.D. is revered as one of America's foremost teachers and experts in alternative and complementary medicine. Dr. Wright practices the medicine of the new millennium with his multi-pronged, natural approach to disease prevention and management. He has written several important books on nutritional interventions for a variety of diseases. Dr. Wright, M.D. published his first paper on Syndrome X in the late 1980s, long before this disorder became a "twinkle in physicians' eyes".
This powerhouse cast of authors delivers a very strong message to conventional medicine. The message has political, economic, social and medical implications. The authors stand bravely on their opinions that the metabolic Syndrome X must be attacked with the first-line approach of simple and gentle interventions, including lifestyle change and good nutrition. The authors do caution against the "reflex stroke" of the drug prescription pen. This book does not reject conventional medical treatments in appropriate circumstances, but it reacts against what many believe to be the focused overuse of prescription drugs to tackle high blood cholesterol, obesity and mild hypertension.
I tend to agree with the point of view that in the absence of a medical emergency, safe, simple, effective natural treatment options make complete sense in the fight against Syndrome X. Each of the authors has, in one way or another, echoed the dictum of natural medicine where good nutrition is a foundation for good health. This is, for many physicians, a brave position to take because conventional medicine continues to suffer from the imposition of "treatment standards." Such "standards" may, on occasion, be nebulous or result in "stripping the art" out of the practice of medicine. The relevance of this book to the prevention of the modern epidemic of Type 2 diabetes mellitus is quite clear as the authors describe Syndrome X as a common forerunner to maturity onset diabetes mellitus.
I have been a cardiovascular physician and surgeon for 30 years and have researched extensively the subject of obesity management. After witnessing many different outcomes in the management of all degrees of obesity, I have evaluated and applied many ancillary options to combat obesity. It is becoming quite clear that insulin resistance plays a role in fat deposition (lipogenesis) in humans. New hormones have been discovered to play a role in weight control, satiety and fat deposition, but insulin control is obligatory for both weight control and general health.
Insulin regulates the disposition of glucose in the body but it can give a powerful signal to the fat cells of the body to store excess fat. Insulin can raise blood pressure, promote cholesterol synthesis by the liver and facilitate the expression of genetic material that may be involved in the growth of cancer. These insulin signals are magnified in Syndrome X, where excess circulating levels of blood insulin occur in the presence of "resistance" to the effects of this hormone on glucose control in the body. This book focuses on several options to combat the pivotal problem of excess circulating insulin and insulin resistance that forms an important part of the cause of Syndrome X (obesity, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia and hyperglycemia).
Most notable in this book is the holistic nature of the management approach to Syndrome X. The authors do not reject conventional medical options, where some circumstances dictate powerful pharmaceutical therapies or surgical interventions, but they do stress the importance of lifestyle change combined with focused nutritional interventions as first-line options. As such, this approach is very novel and quite new as the authors select specific nutrients or remedies of natural origin that have clear evidence for benefit in the combat against the components of Syndrome X. The suggested natural approaches work primarily by attacking insulin resistance and compensatory increases in blood insulin. These first-line natural approaches facilitate the ability of a low carbohydrate diet to sustain weight control and induce more global health. This is Dr. Holt's novel concept of low carbohydrate diet facilitation.
The authors not only highlight the powerful and versatile effects of several remedies of natural origin, but they show increasing evidence of their use in combination in the potential treatment and prevention of Syndrome X. This message is reflected in the title of this book: "Nutritional Factors for Syndrome X." The search for new drugs to combat Syndrome X is becoming one of the most important research initiatives in the pharmaceutical industry, but even with the application of elegant, targeted, drug research, the discovery of a versatile pharmaceutical treatment of Syndrome X appears to be relatively long in the future.
The authors of this book are "in sync" and in good company with other modern researchers of Syndrome X. In January 2002, a very important study on the occurrence of Syndrome X on the U.S. population was published by Federal Government researchers in the Journal of the American Medical Association. While this Government study documented the alarming frequency of the metabolic Syndrome X, it contained an important message that this condition was more likely to respond to a holistic medical approach (integrated approach) than any focused drug treatment or other conventional medical strategy. In fact, the authors of the Federal Government study used the term "integrated" and essentially recommended this form of management approach for the metabolic syndrome or Syndrome X.
Integrated medicine is the approach to combat Syndrome X that is found "exactly" in this book. So important was the message on integrative approaches from the Federal Government that it should be prominently restated: "...it seems unlikely that management of the individual abnormalities of this syndrome (referring to the metabolic Syndrome X) provides better outcomes than a more integrated strategy." (JAMA, 3, 297, p. 359, 2002)
The authors of this book champion the dictum of Hippocrates who stated that food should be medicine and medicine should be food. As medical practice emerges in this new millennium, the pluralistic medical approaches that are found in this book are gaining momentum. Many medical centers of excellence have opened departments of "alternative medicine" to meet the increasing public demand for alternatives to standard drug and surgical treatments (allopathic medicine). While not "fence-sitting," the authors of this book amplify the advice on positive lifestyle change, behavior modification and good nutrition to combat Syndrome X — a combination of disorders that has its cause deeply rooted in adverse lifestyle, with variable genetic predispositions.
It is with great pleasure that I write the foreword to this book with the knowledge that it may serve to "rattle the cages" of conventional medical thought in our approach to the devastating epidemic of the metabolic Syndrome X or Syndrome X, Y and Z.
Frederic J. Vagnini M.D., December 2003
Physician, Best-selling author, New York
Co-Author: The Carbohydrate Addict's Healthy Heart Program