Obesity and Metabolic Syndrome: Impact and Relationship with Menopausal Transition

Western society predisposes to weight gain. We simply have too much food available. The real problem is the fact that human biology, especially in women, changes as people get to their 50s, when ageing and perimenopausal modifications take place little by little. Small changes in gonadal steroid production at the ovarian level together with some changes in the metabolic pathways and in the insulin sensitivity create the trigger for weight gain. Food intake and steroid modulation of the metabolic pathways are the basis for some of the relevant changes that facilitate the increase in body mass index and the occurrence of metabolic syndrome.