Study Suggests Metabolic Syndrome in Childhood Predicts Adult Cardiovascular Disease 25 Years Later
A study led by John A. Morrison, PhD a research professor of pediatrics at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, finds that children with a constellation of factors that define pediatric metabolic are at significantly increased risk of cardiovascular disease 25-30 years later.
About one in five children with any three health risk factors -- low HDL-C, high triglycerides, high blood pressure, high glucose and obesity -- have heart disease or strokes by their 30s or 40s, compared with one in 67 who did not.
Additionally, Morrison's findings suggest that children who lost weight – relative to their age specific percentile ranking for obesity – lowered this cardiovascular risk. In other words, managing weight in childhood and young adulthood pays off.
What This Means for Your Patients
Evaluating children for metabolic syndrome could identify patients at an increased risk of adult cardiovascular disease, making targeted interventions possible.
How This Study Differs from Similar Studies
Earlier reports by similar studies following children with pediatric metabolic syndrome into adulthood showed only an increased risk of vessel dysfunction later in life. However, those cohorts were at least seven years younger at follow up than Morrison's. In the ensuing seven year's time, actual clinical disease occurred in participants. Morrison found that participants having metabolic syndrome earlier in life were 14 times more likely to have cardiovascular disease 25-30 years later.
Methodology
Morrison's study followed 771 children ages 6-19 until ages 30-48. He also used data from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Lipid Research Clinics Princeton Prevalence Study (1973-8). BMI was used as the obesity measure.
