People with metabolic syndrome likelier to die from cardiovascular disease

A new study has examined that people who have metabolic syndrome are likelier to die from cardiovascular disease than people without this condition, and having diabetes or high blood pressure worsens the risk.

According to the study, the risk factors include abdominal obesity, high levels of fats in the blood called triglycerides, elevated blood pressure, high fasting blood sugar and reduced high-density lipoprotein (HDL), or good, cholesterol levels.

Prof. Ki-Chul Sung, MD, PhD, of Kangbuk Samsung Hospital at Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine in Seoul, South Korea, said that their research found people who had metabolic syndrome had a 1.6-fold-increase in cardiovascular mortality compared to those who did not have the condition and women who have metabolic syndrome faced a great risk of death from any cause than their counterparts who did not.

The researchers measured mortality among the subjects by pulling death records from the Korea National Statistical Office. During the median follow-up period of 3.7 years, 542 of the study participants died.

Professor Eun-Jung Rhee, MD, PhD, of Kangbuk Samsung Hospital at Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, said that analysis tells that diabetes and high blood pressure are significant factors that elevate the risk of death from cardiovascular disease among people with metabolic syndrome," said another author of the study.

The study is published in the Endocrine Society's Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.