Metabool syndroom verdubbeld cardiovasculair risico

Having the metabolic syndrome doubles peoples' risk for cardiovascular events and also increases their risk for all-cause mortality, say the authors of a meta-analysis.
 

"We recommend that healthcare workers use the metabolic syndrome to identify patients who are at particularly high risk for cardiovascular complications," say Mark Eisenberg (McGill University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada) and colleagues.
 

The team's analysis covered 87 studies, including 951,083 patients in whom the presence or absence of the metabolic syndrome was defined according to the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel (NCEP-ATP) III criteria.

Overall, patients with the metabolic syndrome had a 2.35-fold increased risk for cardiovascular events relative to those without, show the results published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

The presence of the metabolic syndrome also conferred a 2.40-fold increase in cardiovascular mortality risk, a 2.58-fold increase in all-cause mortality risk, and 1.99- and 2.27-fold increases in the risk for myocardial infarction (MI) and stroke, respectively. The risk associated with the metabolic syndrome was not notably different according to whether it was defined by the original or revised NCEP-ATP III criteria, say Eisenberg et al.

Also, the risk associated with the syndrome persisted in an analysis of studies that included only patients free of Type 2 diabetes, with such patients having 1.62- and 1.86-fold risk increases for MI and stroke, respectively.
 

"Our systematic review identified an important gap in the literature," say the researchers. "Studies are needed to investigate whether or not the prognostic significance of the metabolic syndrome exceeds the risk associated with the sum of its individual components."
 

They note that the prognostic significance of the metabolic syndrome over and above its individual components has been "repeatedly challenged," yet few studies have fully addressed the issue. Only five of the 87 studies included in the current analysis adjusted their findings for at least one component of the metabolic syndrome, they add.