Elderly women with metabolic syndrome present higher cardiovascular risk and lower relative muscle strength

OBJECTIVE: To compare the metabolic, anthropometric, arterial blood pressure, and muscle strength parameters of elderly women with and without metabolic syndrome. METHODS: A case-control study with 27 (67.3±4.8 years of age, 31.0±5.0kg/m(2)) elderly women with metabolic syndrome and 33 (68.8±5.6 years of age, 27.2±5.3kg/m(2)) sedentary control elderly women. They were submitted to an evaluation of body composition by means of dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry and muscle strength testing with 10 maximal repetitions of knee extension. RESULTS: When compared to the elderly women without metabolic syndrome, those with the metabolic syndrome had higher levels for body mass (72.2±13.5 versus 63.4±14.6kg, p=0.03), body mass index (31.0±5.0 versus 27.2±5.3kg/m(2,) p=0.007), fat mass (30.9±9.9 versus 24.4±8.5kg, p=0.01), systolic arterial pressure (125.1±8.2 versus 119.3±8.7mmHg, p=0.01), diastolic arterial pressure (75.5±6.9 versus 71.4±6.7mmHg, p=0.03), mean arterial pressure (92.5±6.2 versus 87.1±6.7mmHg, p=0.004), blood glucose (103.8±19.1 versus 91.1±5.9mg/dL, p=0.001), triglycerides (187.1±70.2 versus 116.3±36.7mg/dL, p=0.001), and creatine kinase (122.6±58.6 versus 89.8±32.5U/L, p=0.01); lower levels were found for fat-free mass (55.9±5.8 versus 59.3±6.7%; p=0.05), HDL-C (40.7±5.0 versus 50.5±10.1mg/dL, p=0.001), and relative muscle strength (0.53±0.14 versus 0.62±0.12, p=0.01). CONCLUSION: Elderly women with metabolic syndrome have a higher cardiovascular risk and less relative muscle strength when compared to those without metabolic syndrome. Relative muscle strength may be related to the cardiovascularr risk factors of the metabolic syndrome.