Metabolic Syndrome / heart attack patients

ironjustice@aol.com · medicine forum Guru Joined: 28 Apr 2005 Posts: 1522

http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/511991/

Metabolic Syndrome Prevalent in Heart Attack Patients
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HEART ATTACK PATIENTS METABOLIC SYNDROME
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Nearly half of heart attack patients also met criteria for metabolic
syndrome, putting them at a higher risk for development of heart
failure, according to an article.

Newswise - Nearly half of heart attack patients also met criteria for
metabolic syndrome, putting them at a higher risk for development of
heart failure, according to an article in the May 23 issue of Archives
of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Metabolic syndrome is a group of risk factors in an individual that may
precede type 2 diabetes mellitus, according to background information
in the article. The definition for metabolic syndrome includes
thresholds for waist circumference, concentrations of triglycerides,
high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the "good
cholesterol"), fasting blood glucose levels, and elevated blood
pressure. A survey found that metabolic syndrome was prevalent in 25
percent of white Americans and 44 percent of people 50 years and older.
The effect of metabolic syndrome after acute myocardial infarction
(AMI, heart attack) has not yet been studied.

Marianne Zeller, Ph.D., from the University of Burgundy, Dijon, France,
and colleagues examined the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in 633
patients hospitalized with AMI. Patients were enrolled if they were 18
years or older and were admitted to the hospital within 24 hours of the
onset of heart attack symptoms. Participants were diagnosed with
metabolic syndrome if they had three of five criteria: a waist
circumference greater than 102 cm (40 inches) in men and 88 cm (35
inches) in women, high triglyceride levels, low HDL cholesterol levels,
high blood glucose level, and high blood pressure.

The researchers found that 46 percent (n = 290) of patients met the
criteria for metabolic syndrome. Patients with metabolic syndrome were
older, more likely to be women, had a more frequent history of previous
MI than patients without metabolic syndrome, and had a higher number of
cardiovascular risk factors. The metabolic syndrome was associated with
worse in-hospital outcomes, and an increased risk of heart failure.
Examining the metabolic syndrome criteria independently, the
researchers found that hyperglycemia (high blood glucose level) was a
major determining factor associated with severe heart failure.

"Our study showed the high prevalence of metabolic syndrome among
patients with AMI and highlights the detrimental impact of metabolic
syndrome on short-term outcomes, particularly heart failure," the
authors write. "Finally, our study suggests that, among metabolic
syndrome components, hyperglycemia has the strongest relation to
increased incidence of congestive heart failure in patients with
metabolic syndrome and MI. Given the ever-increasing prevalence of
metabolic syndrome worldwide, this finding has important clinical
implications and confirms the importance of evaluating glycemic control
during the acute phase of MI."

(Arch Intern Med. 2005; 165: 1192 - 1198. Available post-embargo at
http://www.archinternmed.com.)

Editor's Note: This study was supported by Union Régionale des
Caisses d'Assurance Maladie and Agence Regionale D'hospitalisation
de Bourgogne, Dijon, France, and by the Association de Cardiologie de
Bourgogne, Dijon, France.

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© 2005 Newswise. All Rights Reserved.

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http://www.novartisnutrition.com/us/articleDetail?id=6044

<<snip>>
What this means

Body iron stores are clearly linked with the occurrence of the
metabolic syndrome and, as the earlier study cited, with the
development of type 2 diabetes. It's likely that the chief effect of
raised iron levels is connected with impaired insulin resistance, with
the other findings following on from this. But is this connection one
of cause-and-effect, or are ferritin levels just a 'marker' of insulin
resistance?
<<snip>>

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