A physician attending a recent Medical Post event said to me, “You want to know the next big thing influencing health care in Canada for the next 20 years? Two words—metabolic syndrome.” His appears not to be a lone voice.

As author of “Abdominal obesity: a physician’s supertool for assessing CVD risk” (page 10), Dr. George Fodor of the University of Ottawa Heart Institute notes that today—never mind a decade down the road—roughly 20% to 25% of Canadians live with metabolic syndrome. The label corrals numerous risk factors that represent a marked increase in cardiovascular disease risk.

One of Dr. Fodor’s best tips for the overtaxed primary-care physician is to “look at the patient” before being bogged down by all the new guidelines and rules. His analysis is a fascinating description of how to treat what my physician friend described as the “looming epidemic.”

Also in this issue, Dr. Richard Tytus of McMaster University and Dr. Martin Myers of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre’s Schulich Heart Centre provide a thought-provoking analysis on once-daily antihypertensive therapy (page 14).

Completing our strong story lineup is “Life after the coronary care unit” (page 20) by Dr. John Burgess, emeritus cardiologist at McGill University Health Centre, who presents a case study of a patient who arrives at your office after a stay in the coronary care unit. Check out his precise analysis for how to keep the patient from a return visit.

It’s the valued contributions of Canadian physicians that make our themed clinical care guides (watch for our next one on Women’s Health in September) such a success. And little whispers from our doctor friends help too.