Metabolic syndrome is an abnormal aggregation of multiple metabolic components including: 1) abdominal obesity or overweight, 2) atherogenic dyslipidemia (hypertriglyceridemia (TG) and low HDL-C), 3) hypertension, and 4) insulin resistance and/or abnormal glucose tolerance. Some criteria also include microalbuminuria, hyperuricemia and increased pro-inflammatory status (C-reactive protein CRP) and pro-thrombotic status (increased fibrinogen and fibrinogen inhibitor-1, PAI-1). The presence of these components in aggregate in the same individual increases the risk of cardiovascular disease significantly.