Aetna and a data analytics firm looked at medical claims of 37,000 policyholders to find the likelihood that those patients are at a risk of metabolic syndrome, according to research published last week in the American Journal of Managed Care.
Metabolic syndrome is characterized by five factors: a large waist size, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, high blood sugar and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL), considered the “good” cholesterol. Those factors can lead to chronic heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Combined, the conditions account for nearly 20 percent of all health care costs in the U.S., Aetna said.