Metabolic Abnormalities Predict Heart Disease

A study has found that a more accurate predictor of heart disease than cholesterol levels is metabolic syndrome, a cluster of metabolic abnormalities. The finding was reported in the July 15, 2003, issue of Circulation.

Under new guidelines, patients are considered to have metabolic syndrome if they have three or more of the following five conditions: abdominal obesity, high levels of trigyclerides, low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL), high blood sugar levels, and high blood pressure.

Researchers used data from a coronary study of 6,447 men in Scotland. All had moderately elevated levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL). Using the new guidelines, 26% of the men had the metabolic syndrome, with almost twice the risk of heart disease and more than three times the risk of developing diabetes, compared to men without abnormalities. The risk increased as the number of abnormalities rose. Men with four or five abnormalities had almost four times the risk of heart disease and 24.5 times the risk of diabetes. The diabetes finding was important, since there are currently fewer predictive measures to identify people at risk of developing the disease.

"This is the first prospective study to show that the new criteria predict excess risk for both coronary heart disease and diabetes,” said lead author Naveed Sattar, M.D., a consultant in clinical biochemistry at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary (Scotland). The researchers also looked at another variable, C-reactive protein (CRP), a marker of inflammation that has been linked to heart disease. They found that CRP levels were also higher in men with the metabolic syndrome than in those without it.




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Glasgow Royal Infirmary