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Metabolic syndrome component clustering, increased CVD found in younger adults
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Adults younger than 65 years who have clustering of metabolic syndrome components also experience high rates of cardiovascular disease, study data show.
More aggressive CVD preventive treatment may be warranted in younger patients with metabolic syndrome, the researchers wrote.
David Simmons, MD, FRACP, FRCP, professor of medicine at the University of Western Sydney School of Medicine in Australia, and colleagues evaluated data from randomly selected households in rural Victoria, Australia, on 1,429 adults aged at least 25 years to assess the components of metabolic syndrome and prevalent CVD. Researchers sought to determine whether clustering of metabolic syndrome components — as defined by the Adult Treatment Panel III or International Diabetes Federation definitions — occurs and whether links between metabolic syndrome and prevalent CVD vary by age.
Prevalence of metabolic syndrome based on individual components was greater than researchers expected when using both definitions (P < .0001). Self-reported CVD prevalence was 7.9% overall and increased with age. Metabolic syndrome was linked to a higher prevalence of CVD in participants younger than 65 years when using both definitions.
Younger participants were more likely to have four or five components of metabolic syndrome compared with other age groups. Metabolic syndrome was significantly less prevalent than expected in participants aged at least 45 years.
Among participants with normal waist circumference, the prevalence of metabolic syndrome was lower than expected.
“[Metabolic syndrome] occurs more than we would expect by the chance combination of its components, due to clustering in younger participants, and also in participants with four or more [metabolic syndrome] components,” the researchers wrote. “However, only younger participants have an increase in reported prevalent CVD. Whether this is due to older patients with [metabolic syndrome] being ‘survivors’ is unclear and requires a prospective study. ... We wonder if younger patients with [metabolic syndrome], with their greater absolute risk, would benefit from more aggressive CVD prevention, and recommend urgent post hoc analyses from existing studies to address this question.” – by Amber Cox
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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