Metabolic Syndrome for Cardiovascular Disease Morbidity and Mortality Among General Japanese People: A Mini Review

BACKGROUND: The importance of management of metabolic syndrome (MetS) for risk reduction of cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been recognized worldwide. Because of the comparatively unique characteristics of bodily figure/obesity and incident CVD in Japan, the relevance of MetS on CVD can be still discussed among Japanese people. The present study aimed to review briefly the relationship of MetS with CVD morbidity/mortality among general Japanese people. METHODS: Population-based prospective cohort studies evaluating the predictive value of MetS on CVD morbidity/mortality via a PubMed search up to 2019 were summarized. RESULTS: We identified two studies on morbidity that reported MetS to predict CVD morbidity. We identified three studies on mortality, and these studies showed an increased direction of hazard ratio (HR) of CVD mortality, while one study reported an insignificant prediction of MetS for CVD mortality. In the meta-analysis method, MetS significantly predicted CVD morbidity (HR=1.71 [95% confidence interval=1.34–2.18] in men and HR=1.89 [95% confidence interval=1.45–2.46] in women) as well as CVD mortality (HR=1.68 [95% confidence interval=1.37–2.06] in men and HR=1.73 [95% confidence interval=1.39–2.15] in women). CONCLUSION: Among general Japanese people, MetS can be a positive predictor of CVD morbidity/mortality. Since the studies are limited, more research is needed to establish the findings.