Metabolic syndrome is a clustering of at least three of the following five medical conditions: abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, high serum triglycerides, and low serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL). Metabolic syndrome is associated with the risk of developing cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. In the U.S., about 25% of the adult population has metabolic syndrome, a proportion increasing with age, particularly among racial and ethnic minorities.Insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, and prediabetes are closely related to one another and have overlapping aspects. The syndrome is thought to be caused by an underlying disorder of energy utilization and storage. The cause of the syndrome is an area of ongoing medical research. Signs and symptoms
The key sign of metabolic syndrome is central obesity, also known as visceral, male-pattern or apple-shaped adiposity. It is characterized by adipose tissue accumulation predominantly around the waist and trunk. Other signs of metabolic syndrome include high blood pressure, decreased fasting serum HDL cholesterol, elevated fasting serum triglyceride level, impaired fasting glucose, insulin resistance, or prediabetes. Associated conditions include hyperuricemia; fatty liver (especially in concurrent obesity) progressing to nonalcoholic fatty liver disease; polycystic ovarian syndrome in women and erectile dysfunction in men; and acanthosis nigricans. Complication
Metabolic syndrome can lead to several serious and chronic complications, including type-2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, kidney disease and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease. Causes
The mechanisms of the complex pathways of metabolic syndrome are under investigation. The pathophysiology is very complex and has been only partially elucidated.
Piedraia hortae is a superficial fungus that exists in the soils of tropical and subtropical environments and affects both sexes of all ages. The fungus grows very slowly, forming dark hyphae, which contain chlamydoconidia cells and black colonies when grown on agar. Piedraia hortae is a dermatophyte and causes a superficial fungal infection known as black piedra, which causes the formation of black nodules on the hair shaft and leads to progressive weakening of the hair. The infection usually infects hairs on the scalp and beard, but other varieties tend to grow on pubic hairs. The infection is usually treated with cutting or shaving of the hair and followed by the application of anti-fungal and topical agents. The fungus is used for cosmetic purposes to darken hair in some societies as a symbol of attractiveness. Morphology
When grown on agar at 25 °C (77 °F) Piedraia hortae grows very slowly to form black-greenish, limited and pointed colonies. Piedraia hortae taken from infected hairs have dark brown nodules, which are made up of ascostroma. The nodules have a gritty feel, organized in a stromatic fashion and have a high concentration of chitin and melanoid pigments. The colonies produce a red pigment and remain smooth and covered with short aerial hyphae. Microscopically, P. hortae produces short, dark hyphae containing thick-walled resting cells. The ascomata consist of irregularly shaped pseudothecia that are black in colour. Each ascoma contains a single ascus containing eight ascospores. The ascospores are dark, curved and become very narrow at the ends forming whip-like appendages.