Metabolic Meltdown: The Hidden Health Crisis (Part 2)

Metabolic diseases, often dubbed the 'silent disruptors', have a tendency to progress quietly, making their presence known only when they've taken a firm hold. But what if we could preemptively identify and address MetS? We now have the tools to identify and intervene early on, potentially preventing or slowing down its progression. In this Part 2 of our Metabolic Health series we'll take a deep dive into the latest screening methods and explore lifestyle interventions that can make a real impact.

Disclaimer: I am not a medical professional and this article is not medical advice. However, its medical review was conducted by a leading, board-certified physician focused on metabolism, performance, and longevity to ensure medical accuracy.

How do you screen for metabolic disease?

There can be significant developments between being in a state of good health and developing metabolic disease. Oftentimes, the symptoms of metabolic sickness go unnoticed or don't manifest until the condition becomes severe: its earliest stages, the disease is often silent (more than 84% of US adults being unaware that they have pre-diabetes!). Knowing the prevalence of the disease even in seemingly healthy individuals, it is advisable to get screened for it.

Standard screening

In Part 1 of this series, we outlined the standard guidelines for screening Metabolic Syndrome by the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) Adult Treatment Panel III (ATP III), which involve a combination of blood tests and functional tests. However, these screening guidelines are dated from 2005, and may not be the most effective way to evaluate metabolic health: they fail to account for the necessary nuances of the disease and may not be able to detect it before it progresses to irreversible stages, such as diabetes and NAFLD.

“I won’t suggest that this is the best way to evaluate metabolic health. I think there are many more nuances that we’re going to go into, but at a minimum, I think everybody should know where they stand on those things.” — Dr. Peter Attia, MD and leading Longevity doctor.

Advanced screening

More advanced screenings are available to properly assess metabolic health: Dr. Peter Attia, one of the leading longevity MDs, approaches it by looking at fasting glucose or fasting insulin levels, kidney and liver functions, lipid levels (including clues of insulin resistance such as the triglycerides to HDL ratio), and triglyceride levels. These advanced tests include:

• An advanced blood test - which

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