Episode 178: Beat the Metabolic Blues with Dr. Lindsey Ogle

[00:00:00] Welcome back to the Back on Track Achieving Healthy Weight Loss, where I help you get on track and stay on track with your weight loss journey. I'm your host, Dr. Alicia Shelly. So let's get started.

[00:00:13] Welcome to the Back on Track Achieving Healthy Weight Loss podcast. I'm your host, Dr. Alicia Shelly. So our focus today is on metabolic syndrome.

[00:00:38] This is a condition that affects millions of people worldwide, but it's often misunderstood or even overlooked.

[00:00:47] Metabolic syndrome isn't just one health issue. It's a cluster of conditions that can significantly increase the risk of heart disease, diabetes and other chronic illnesses.

[00:00:57] And to help us unpack what metabolic syndrome is, how it develops and most importantly, what we can do to prevent or manage it,

[00:01:05] I'm thrilled to welcome our expert, Dr. Lindsey Ogle. She's a board certified family and obesity medicine physician and founder of the telehealth clinic called Missouri Metabolic Health, where she helps adults all throughout the state of Missouri treat and prevent metabolic conditions.

[00:01:24] Dr. Ogle brings a wealth of knowledge and experience, and I can't wait to dive deep into this vital topic. So let's get started.

[00:01:31] Welcome so much to the podcast. We're so happy to have you, Dr. Ogle.

[00:01:36] Dr. Ogle Thank you so much for having me. I'm very excited to talk about this often overlooked condition.

[00:01:41] Dr. Amy Goodman Yes. Well, before we get started, though, would you mind maybe sharing a little bit more about yourself and kind of what inspired you to specialize in the metabolic area and well in this particular area of health and wellness?

[00:01:55] Dr. Ogle Absolutely. So I am originally from Indiana. That's where I went to school and did all of my training.

[00:02:01] Dr. Ogle During medical school, I decided to go into family medicine. I really enjoyed primary care and just helping people to establish and maintain their health long term so they can live fuller and longer lives.

[00:02:15] Dr. Ogle During medical school, I did family medicine residency out in Denver and that program had great opportunity for elective time.

[00:02:23] Dr. Ogle During that period, I worked with some obesity medicine doctors that really introduced me to that field that I had not heard of before.

[00:02:32] Dr. Ogle And I really enjoyed those rotations because I saw how managing weight and lifestyle factors could really treat and prevent and improve a lot of the chronic conditions that we see in primary care.

[00:02:47] Dr. Ogle And so after I graduated from residency, I did additional studies in obesity medicine and then got that board certification.

[00:02:55] Dr. Ogle I did primary care for a couple of years in the Kansas City area and then I decided to reach more people through telehealth and that's why I created my telehealth clinic, Missouri Metabolic Health.

[00:03:08] Dr. Ogle Awesome. Well, wonderful. That is so good to hear. Thank you for sharing your journey into this field of not only just family medicine, obesity medicine and your telehealth clinic as well.

[00:03:21] And we'll be giving you all information on where you can find her, especially if you live in the state of Missouri.

[00:03:26] You definitely check out the show notes and then we'll talk a little bit more toward the end of the podcast.

[00:03:36] Dr. Ogle Great place to start.

[00:03:42] So as you mentioned, metabolic syndrome is a syndrome.

[00:03:46] So there is not one defining factor.

[00:03:49] It's a collection of five possible signs or symptoms and you need three out of the five to meet criteria.

[00:03:57] Dr. Ogle And the first one is abdominal obesity.

[00:04:01] And so the way that is measured is taking a tape measure at the top part of your hip bone and measuring the circumference of your waist.

[00:04:09] And for men, if that is 40 inches or greater, and for women, if it's 35 inches or greater, then you meet that criteria.

[00:04:17] The second is elevated blood pressure.

[00:04:21] And so the cutoffs for that is the top number being 130 or greater or the bottom number 85 or greater.

[00:04:29] Next, we have elevated blood sugar.

[00:04:32] And this is a fasting blood sugar that you would get and 100 or greater meets that criteria or having a diagnosis of prediabetes or diabetes.

[00:04:42] And then the last two are related to the cholesterol panel.

[00:04:46] And this is also something that you want to have done fasting.

[00:04:49] The first one of that component is the triglycerides.

[00:04:54] And so 150 or greater, you meet that criteria.

[00:04:59] And then last is the HDL cholesterol, which is often known as the healthy cholesterol.

[00:05:04] So we want higher numbers.

[00:05:06] Those are protective for heart health.

[00:05:09] And the cutoffs for men is 40 or less.

[00:05:12] And for women, it's 50 or less.

[00:05:14] And again, you need three out of those five criteria to be diagnosed with metabolic syndrome.

[00:05:21] So just to recap, we have abdominal obesity or like a waist circumference that's greater than 40, you said, for men and then greater than 35 for women.

[00:05:33] Blood pressure that's elevated greater than 130 over 80.

[00:05:36] Then having either an elevated glucose or fasting glucose or have the pre-diabetic or diabetic.

[00:05:44] And then triglycerides of greater than 150 or HDL that is less than 50 for men.

[00:05:53] Do the HDL again?

[00:05:54] I'm sorry.

[00:05:55] Yeah.

[00:05:56] 50 or less for women and then 40 or less for men.

[00:05:59] 40 or less for men.

[00:06:00] Okay.

[00:06:01] Awesome.

[00:06:02] So this really encompasses the full kind of full picture.

[00:06:05] Blood pressure, sugar, abdominal obesity, and then also your cholesterol.

[00:06:12] How common is metabolic syndrome?

[00:06:14] And are there like specific populations that are more at risk?

[00:06:19] Yeah.

[00:06:19] So it's very common.

[00:06:21] It's estimated that one out of three American adults have metabolic syndrome.

[00:06:27] But most of those people are not aware of it.

[00:06:30] And that's probably because it's not diagnosed that often.

[00:06:35] And I will admit to, you know, in a busy primary care clinic, you are taking care of a lot of different things.

[00:06:42] And you may not have time to kind of put that full picture together and list that as a diagnosis in the medical chart.

[00:06:50] But definitely looking back, I have most of patients that met that criteria.

[00:07:00] Yeah.

[00:07:01] If they knew they had a family history of metabolic syndrome or family history of diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol abnormalities, family history of obesity.

[00:07:12] So all of that combined can put you at higher risk for metabolic syndrome.

[00:07:17] Yeah.

[00:07:18] I definitely, as primary care, sometimes you're so busy trying to make sure you answer everyone's questions.

[00:07:24] Sometimes the things that have been kind of there, you sometimes overlook it.

[00:07:28] Like you said, it is very commonly overlooked.

[00:07:30] So why is it important that we address metabolic syndrome?

[00:07:35] If we, you know, there's so many different conditions under it.

[00:07:38] Why is it important that we address it early?

[00:07:40] And are there any long-term health implications if it's unmanaged?

[00:07:45] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:07:47] So I think of two things.

[00:07:49] One is recognizing metabolic syndrome can be helpful because it is identifying the underlying cause of many of those common conditions.

[00:08:00] So often we see the high blood pressure or the cholesterol abnormalities or prediabetes or diabetes.

[00:08:06] And we can manage those things and we know how to do that very well in primary care.

[00:08:10] But if we can notice the metabolic syndrome and make that diagnosis, then we can treat that underlying cause that can manage all of those downstream consequences of the condition.

[00:08:23] And talking about downstream consequences, having metabolic syndrome significantly increases someone's risk for cardiovascular disease.

[00:08:31] So like a heart attack or stroke, it can increase risk for developing diabetes if that's not already there.

[00:08:38] Fatty liver disease is a common complication.

[00:08:42] Obstructive sleep apnea and even some cancers can be a consequence of metabolic syndrome.

[00:08:48] If somebody is concerned that they may have metabolic syndrome, what should they be asking their doctor to be checking or how often should it be checked for them as far as the blood work with the diagnosis?

[00:09:00] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:09:01] So you're going to want to monitor the blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol levels over time.

[00:09:07] And the frequency of that can depend on exactly what your levels are.

[00:09:12] So you and your doctor can make a plan for that.

[00:09:14] But if you suspect you have metabolic syndrome and you have not had those labs done, then you definitely want to ask for those fasting labs.

[00:09:22] I also recommend asking your doctor to look through the medications that you're already prescribed.

[00:09:28] Because there are some medications that we know that can promote weight gain or metabolic dysfunction.

[00:09:35] And some of those can be mental health medications, anti-seizure medications, steroids, even ironically some of our older diabetes medications.

[00:09:46] And so if your doctor can help you identify any of those and maybe switch to an alternative, that can be very helpful for your metabolic health long term.

[00:09:56] Of course, you always want to talk to your doctor about that rather than stopping any medication without consulting them.

[00:10:02] I think that that's great advice because you don't want to stop anything before talking with your doctor about it.

[00:10:09] So at least they can give you something else in substitution of it.

[00:10:12] And then what are some of the effective lifestyle changes for preventing metabolic syndrome or managing metabolic syndrome?

[00:10:20] Yeah, so all of the lifestyle recommendations that we hear kind of all of the time to help with other chronic conditions are helpful here.

[00:10:30] And we hear them all the time because they are effective and helpful.

[00:10:35] So we're referring to adequate nutrition.

[00:10:39] So the exact diet can vary from person to person based on preference and their day-to-day life.

[00:10:45] But overall, what we're looking for is reducing the processed foods, focusing on whole foods, reducing added sugars as much as possible,

[00:10:55] making sure you're getting enough vegetables and fiber and enough protein in your diet.

[00:11:01] Some of the diets that have been studied for metabolic syndrome include the Mediterranean diet, low-carb diets, plant-based diets, and intermittent fasting.

[00:11:12] So those are some options to look into.

[00:11:15] Physical activity is also very helpful here.

[00:11:19] It's recommended for everyone to do 150 minutes per week.

[00:11:22] That can be split up throughout the week.

[00:11:25] Although if you are not exercising right now, I don't recommend going all the way for 150.

[00:11:31] I recommend starting at 5 or 10 minutes at a time and then building that into your routine and getting closer to the 150

[00:11:38] because any amount is going to be helpful and we want this to be sustainable changes for you.

[00:11:45] Sleep is also very important.

[00:11:47] And we want at least seven hours of uninterrupted sleep, ideally.

[00:11:52] So if not, it's something that you are struggling with and finding maybe a therapist that focuses on insomnia or a sleep medicine physician can be really helpful.

[00:12:00] And then stress management is also very impactful for metabolic health.

[00:12:06] I know it can be hard and a busy day, but finding some time to do something that you enjoy and unwind or if you need to, again, work with a professional, whether a coach or a therapist, it can be very helpful to manage those stress levels.

[00:12:21] Oh, amazing. All right. Well, thank you so much for the different ways we can change.

[00:12:27] What if we have some challenges such as what if we're just so busy?

[00:12:33] Any advice you have for those individuals that are having some obstacles and achieving some of these lifestyle changes?

[00:12:39] So definitely getting support and working with either the therapist, coach or your physician.

[00:12:45] I did not mention with the lifestyle, if we're able to achieve weight loss, then that can be helpful for metabolic syndrome.

[00:12:53] And even 5 to 10 percent of your body weight can have a significant impact.

[00:12:59] So, for example, if somebody weighs 200 pounds, that's 10 or 20 pounds can really improve metabolic syndrome.

[00:13:05] And so potentially talking to your doctor about even medications that can help with weight management, because that will, again, help treat the underlying causes of metabolic syndrome and can help you long term and that can help augment those lifestyle changes as well.

[00:13:23] Awesome. Now, are there any resources, books, websites, any programs that you can recommend for people if they're looking to learn more about metabolic syndrome?

[00:13:33] Yeah, that's a great question.

[00:13:35] I don't know any about metabolic syndrome in particular, but I do know there are a lot of prediabetes groups that can help prevent the progression to type 2 diabetes.

[00:13:46] So the YMCA has lots of different groups on like that and can be helpful indirectly then for the metabolic syndrome.

[00:13:54] So that would be a great resource to look out for.

[00:13:58] Awesome. All right.

[00:13:58] Thank you again for just coming and sharing more about metabolic syndrome and educating us on what we should be looking out for and why it's important.

[00:14:08] Would you mind maybe sharing how our listeners can maybe connect with you or follow you in your work?

[00:14:13] Yeah, absolutely.

[00:14:14] Well, thank you for having me.

[00:14:15] And if anyone wants to learn more, my website is MissouriMetabolicHealth.com.

[00:14:21] You can learn more about what I do in my telehealth clinic.

[00:14:25] And then I have all of my links on that website to my social media and my YouTube channel where I share more information.

[00:14:34] And then there's a way to send me a message directly on the contact page of that website as well.

[00:14:40] So MissouriMetabolicHealth.com is the most straightforward way to get a hold of me.

[00:14:45] Awesome.

[00:14:45] Well, thank you again.

[00:14:46] And thank you all for joining us on the Back on Track Achieving Healthy Weight Loss podcast.

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[00:14:58] We'll see you all next time.