HONG KONG—Metabolic syndrome might raise the risk of chronic kidney disease in type 2 diabetics, according to researchers at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Most people with type 2 diabetes already have some of the risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome, which include high triglycerides, abdominal obesity, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, and low levels of "good" HDL cholesterol. A person who has three or more of these conditions is considered to have the syndrome, according to the study, which appeared in the December 2008 issue of Diabetes Care.
Metabolic syndrome is considered highly likely to lead to cardiovascular problems, and the Chinese scientists wanted to see if it might also predict kidney disease. After studying more than 5,800 Chinese adults with type 2, they found that the greater the number of metabolic syndrome factors present in a patient, the greater his or her risk of acquiring kidney disease. Overall, type 2 patients with metabolic syndrome had a 31 percent greater risk of kidney disease than those without it.
The scientists concluded that addressing single factors in metabolic syndrome would not lessen the risk of kidney disease. Instead, they called for a "global risk reduction" approach, in which all of the indicators in metabolic syndrome are reduced and controlled as the only certain way to stave off kidney deterioration.