Commonly Used Medications That Worsen Insulin Resistance Are Described in Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders.

NEW ROCHELLE, N.Y. -- Prescription drugs used by overweight or obese adults to treat common diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, elevated cholesterol levels, or coronary artery disease--all components of the broader disorder called metabolic syndrome--may have a negative effect on insulin resistance, an underlying cause of metabolic syndrome, according to a series of reports in Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders (Volume 2, Number 4), a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The entire issue is available free online at www.liebertpub.com/met.

"Over 67% of our adult population (is) overweight or obese, and obesity (is) a major component of metabolic syndrome," says Richard C. Adler, M.D., Guest Editor of this special issue of Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, and Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis. The papers highlight how many common prescription drugs used to treat such common disorders as asthma, depression, AIDS, and organ transplantation, may worsen the insulin resistance and related metabolic abnormalities linked to obesity.

The special issue includes a report examining the relationship between antihypertensive drugs and metabolic syndrome, which points to the negative effects of thiazide diuretics on insulin resistance, blood lipid levels, and blood sugar. A review of the metabolic effects of antipsychotic drugs differentiates their risk for affecting weight gain, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia.

Additional papers focus on the negative effects of drugs used to control AIDS on carbohydrate metabolism and lipid levels, and on the link between postmenopausal hormone replacement therapy and a woman's risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke. Immunosuppressive agents used to prevent organ rejection in the increasing numbers of organ transplant recipients may increase the risk of developing metabolic syndrome due to the drugs' effects on blood pressure, lipid levels, and glucose intolerance.

Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders is the only peer-reviewed journal to focus solely on the pathophysiology, recognition, and treatment of metabolic syndrome. Edited by Vivian Fonseca, M.D., Professor of Medicine and Pharmacology and Tullis Tulane Alumni Chair in Diabetes at Tulane University Health Sciences Center, in New Orleans, LA, the Journal covers a range of topics including insulin resistance, central obesity, glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia with elevated triglycerides, predominance of small dense LDL-cholesterol particles, hypertension, endothelial dysfunction, and oxidative stress and inflammation. Tables of contents and other free sample issues may be viewed online at www.liebertpub.com.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Obesity Management, Diabetes Technology and Therapeutics, and Thyroid. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry's most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm's 60 journals and books is available at www.liebertpub.com.