Prognostic role of metabolic syndrome in the elderly is not greater than the sum of its components

Abstract

Metabolic syndrome (MetS), which is a cluster of cardiovascular risk factors, has been acknowledged as a predictor of cardiovascular disease and chronic kidney disease in the general population. This has been particularly observed in middle-aged subjects, raising the question of whether MetS maintains a prognostic role in the elderly as well. In a few recent studies, it has been suggested that MetS is, in the elderly, nothing more than a artificial group term, in which one single risk factor has the same or even a greater prognostic value than the aggregated risk factors. However, the early identification of MetS is important in clinical practice in order to identify those subjects who present with multiple risk factors. Furthermore, the concept of MetS may help clinicians to perform a strategy-based approach aimed at reducing global cardiovascular risk, particularly by recognizing and treating dyslipidemia, hypertension and diabetes. Clinicians should encourage their sedentary elderly patients to become more physically activity and to improve their cardiorespiratory fitness as part of primary prevention of MetS. In conclusion, in elderly individuals from the general population, the prognostic role of MetS is not greater than the sum of its components.