Could Your Body Be Warning You Without Symptoms? Doctors Reveal The Hidden Signs Of Metabolic Dysfunction

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Millions of Indians may unknowingly live with metabolic dysfunction because the condition rarely causes pain or obvious symptoms, prompting doctors to place greater emphasis on metabolic health.

Medical experts say the shift has also led to updated disease names, including Polyendocrine Metabolic Ovarian Syndrome (PMOS), Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease (MASLD), and Cardiovascular-Kidney-Metabolic (CKM) syndrome, to better reflect their underlying metabolic causes rather than treating them as isolated illnesses.

Doctors explained that metabolic health extends beyond body weight. It includes blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, body composition, nutrition, sleep and physical activity. They warned that metabolic dysfunction silently damages the heart, liver, kidneys, pancreas and brain long before symptoms appear.

Many patients discover the problem only after routine health screening or a serious cardiovascular event.

Experts stressed that obesity, fatty liver, insulin resistance, abnormal cholesterol and hypertension frequently develop together because they share the same metabolic origin.

Specialists said renaming diseases improves awareness and encourages earlier diagnosis instead of creating confusion. They noted that PMOS highlights the condition’s metabolic nature, while MASLD and CKM acknowledge the close relationship between metabolism, liver, heart and kidney health.

Experts advised people above 35 years to undergo regular health assessments, including blood pressure, blood sugar, HbA1c, lipid profile, liver and kidney function tests, particularly if they have increasing waist size, fatty liver, fatigue, poor sleep or high triglycerides. They emphasised that healthy eating, regular exercise, quality sleep, stress management and timely medical treatment can significantly improve, and sometimes reverse, metabolic dysfunction before irreversible complications develop.

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Pragati Upadhyay

I report stories and occasionally rescue facts from chaos. By profession, I’m a journalist; by conviction, a social worker who believes words should move people, not just headlines. I question power, celebrate ordinary heroes, and sometimes irritate the comfortable. If truth had a shift, I’d probably be working overtime.