Is the cluster of diabetes and heart disease risk factors known as the
metabolic syndrome a thoroughly studied, robust, and clinically useful tool?
Or is it a poorly defined set of conditions that can possibly mislead physicians
trying to prevent those conditions?
The battle over the issue has been joined. On one side are the American
Diabetes Association (ADA) and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes
(EASD); on the other, the American Heart Association (AHA) and the National
Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI).