Metabolic syndrome risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes in the ARIC study

Abstract

Objective: The metabolic syndrome is associated with increased risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Several analyses from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study have been performed to examine the role of the metabolic syndrome and its components in predicting risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Design and subjects: The large, biracial, population-based ARIC study enrolled 15792 middle-aged Americans in four communities in the United States and has followed them for the development of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

Measurements: Outcome parameters included prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its individual components, carotid intima-media thickness, incident coronary heart disease, incident ischemic stroke and incident diabetes.

Results and conclusion: Several analyses from the ARIC study have shown that the metabolic syndrome, as well as individual metabolic syndrome components, is predictive of the prevalence and incidence of coronary heart disease, ischemic stroke, carotid artery disease and diabetes.

Figure 1. Association of coronary heart disease (CHD) risk with metabolic syndrome components in ARIC

After adjustment for age, race/ARIC center, LDL-C, and smoking status, risk for CHD over 11 years increased with the number of metabolic syndrome components present at baseline.

Figure 2. Predictivity of models for development of incident diabetes in ARIC

Percent of ARIC participants with incident diabetes by decile of estimated risk (left panel) and percent of individuals in each decile of estimated risk who developed diabetes during 9 years of follow-up (right panel). Models: clinical information (age, race, parental history of diabetes, systolic blood pressure, waist, height), gray bars; fasting glucose, white bars; clinical information plus fasting glucose, black bars; clinical information, fasting glucose, HDL-C, and triglycerides, diagonally striped bars.