In ancient Greek medicine the concept of a distinct syndrome (going together) 
was used to label 'a group of signs and symptoms' that occur together and 
'characterize a particular abnormality and condition'. The (dys)metabolic 
syndrome is a common cluster of five pre-morbid metabolic-vascular risk factors 
or diseases associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity, fatty liver 
disease and risk of cancer. The risk for major complications such as 
cardiovascular diseases, NASH and some cancers develops along a continuum of 
risk factors into clinical diseases. Therefore we still include hyperglycemia, 
visceral obesity, dyslipidemia and hypertension as diagnostic traits in the 
definition according to the term 'deadly quartet'. From the beginning elevated 
blood pressure and hyperglycemia were core traits of the metabolic syndrome 
associated with endothelial dysfunction and increased risk of cardiovascular 
disease. Thus metabolic and vascular abnormalities are in extricable linked. 
Therefore it seems reasonable to extend the term to metabolic-vascular syndrome 
(MVS) to signal the clinical relevance and related risk of multimorbidity. This 
has important implications for integrated diagnostics and therapeutic approach. 
According to the definition of a syndrome the rapid global rise in the 
prevalence of all traits and comorbidities of the MVS is mainly caused by rapid 
changes in life-style and sociocultural transition resp. with over- and 
malnutrition, low physical activity and social stress as a common soil.