Metabolic syndrome increases mortality

The metabolic syndrome in non-diabetic, which affects 15% of adults in Europe, increases overall and cardiovascular mortality, according to a Finnish study published in the journal "Archives of Internal Medicine."
Recently described disease, metabolic syndrome is defined as the combination of at least 3 of the following 5 criteria: hypertension, low HDL-cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol), hypertriglyceridemia, hyperglycemia and obesity.

This syndrome is now recognized as a cardiovascular risk factor. But its impact on mortality has hitherto been little studied.

Dr. Gang Hu of the National Institute of Public Helsinki (Finland) Health, and colleagues studied the prevalence (total number of cases per year) of the disease by age and sex, as well as its association to cardiovascular and overall mortality in nondiabetic European population, from 11 European studies (DECODE study), involving 6156 men and 5356 women aged 30 to 89 years, a mean follow-up of 8.8 years.

The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was slightly higher among men (15.7%) than women (14.2%).

Of the 1119 deaths recorded during follow-up, 432 have been linked to cardiovascular disease.

Men with metabolic syndrome were at increased risk of 44% of deaths from all causes and multiplied by 2.26 for cardiovascular mortality risk compared with men without metabolic syndrome.

For women, the risk increased by 38% for overall mortality and multiplied by 2.78 for cardiovascular mortality.

These figures are valid after adjustment for age, cholesterol levels and smoking.

"Our study confirms the increased risk of cardiovascular disease in people with metabolic syndrome", which are also a high risk of premature death, conclude the authors, who believe that changes in lifestyle (down obesity, increase physical activity and changes in eating habits) are expected to reduce such risks.