Cardiovascular and Metabolic Disorders
Lexicon is developing multiple drug candidates as potential treatments for cardiovascular and metabolic disorders.  

About the Disease
Cardiovascular and metabolic disorders are broad categories of inter-related conditions.  Lexicon's discovery efforts are focused on dyslipidemia, metabolic syndrome, and hypertriglyceridemia. 

• Dyslipidemia is an imbalance in the amount of various types of lipids in the blood including cholesterol and triglycerides.  It occurs when an individual has low HDL cholesterol (so called "good cholesterol"), increased LDL cholesterol (so called "bad cholesterol") levels, or increased triglycerides.  High levels of LDL have been correlated with coronary artery disease and other cardiovascular disorders such as atherosclerosis and stroke.   
  
• Hypertriglyceridemia is a condition caused by excess levels of triglycerides in the blood.  It is associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease and atherosclerosis, and can lead to pancreatitis.
  
• Metabolic Syndrome is a combination of medical disorders that greatly increase the risk of coronary artery disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.  The primary risk factors that comprise metabolic syndrome include abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, high blood pressure, insulin resistance or glucose intolerance, prothrombotic state, and proinflammatory state.  According to the American Heart Association, it is estimated that nearly 50 million Americans have metabolic syndrome.