Metabolic syndrome, risk stroke

Any relationship between obesity and stroke is likely to be confounded by the positive association of obesity with hypertension, diabetes, hypercholesterolemia and lack of exercise, and the negative association with smoking and concurrent illness. Nevertheless, stroke is more common in the obese, and abdominal obesity appears to be an independent predictor of stroke (Suk et al. 2003). The constellation of metabolic abnormalities including central obesity, decreased high density lipoprotein, elevated triglycerides, elevated blood pressure and impaired glucose tolerance is known as the metabolic syndrome and is associated with a three-fold increase risk of type 2 diabetes and a two-fold increase in cardiovascular risk (Eckel et al. 2005 Grundy et al. 2005). 

Alcohol also improves insulin resistance, a component of the so-called metabolic syndrome that predisposes men and women to diabetes and increases the risk of having a heart attack or a stroke. It improves the ability of arteries to dilate to allow for greater blood flow when needed. Alcohol also reduces the risk of developing blood clots by cutting down levels of fibrinogen, a component in the clotting process. 

Wannamethee SG, Shaper AG, Lennon L, Morris RW. Metabolic syndrome vs. Framingham risk score for prediction of coronary heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes mellitus. Arch. Int. Med. 2005 165 2644-2650. 

The term Metabolic Syndrome (MS) refers to a group or cluster of risk factors, which together raise the risk of heart disease and related diseases, such as diabetes and stroke [1-3], Recent advances seem to indicate that the definition may extend to other diseases, including colon cancer and other noncardiovascular diseases [4,5], Thus, there is an increased awareness of the risk factors that may inaease our propensity to acquire many different disease pathologies. The risk factors (Figure 17.1)... 

Earooqui, Akhlaq A. Metabolic syndrome an important risk factor for stroke. Alzheimer Disease, and Depression 2013, XX, 412. 

As in the case of the CYPllBl gene, many CY-P11B2 variants have now been defined from chn-ical studies. For review, see [2071]. The many variants [2072, 2073] have been related to a number of diseases, including congenital hypoal-dosterism [2074], salt-wasting syndrome [2075], adenoma [2076, 2077], treatment for diabetic nephropathy [2078], high-altitude pulmonary edema [2079,2080], metabolic syndrome [2081], hypertension [2082-2095], stroke [2096], atrial fibrillation [2097], and other cardiovascular risks [2098]. 

The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome is on the rise, in conjunction with rapidly increasing obesity rates (Haffner, 2006). A sample of 1276 multi-ethnic Canadians revealed that the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in Canada was 25.8% (Anand et al., 2003). The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was highest in Native Americans (42%), followed by South Asians (26%), Europeans (22%) and Chinese (11%). The implications of having the metabolic syndrome are severe as it increases the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke by threefold compared with individuals with normal glucose tolerance (reviewed by Nugent, 2004). 

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