Metabolic syndrome -- a cluster of conditions such as high blood pressure and high blood sugar levels that raise the risk of heart disease and diabetes -- is an important marker of silent or "subclinical" atherosclerosis in young, otherwise healthy adults, a study shows according to Reuters. Atherosclerosis is defined as the build-up of fatty plaques in arteries that inhibit blood flow, raising the risk of heart attack and stroke. Previous studies have shown that metabolic syndrome is associated with silent atherosclerosis and increased cardiovascular risk in older and middle-aged adults. The present study demonstrates that these risk associations are also at work in young adults, Dr. Wendy S. Tzou from University Medical School in Madison, Wisconsin and colleagues point out. The finding supports the "importance of screening and early intervention" in young adults with metabolic syndrome, they write in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Among 507 nondiabetic subjects with a mean age of 32 in the Bogalusa Heart Study, a longitudinal study of atherosclerosis in young adults, 67 (13 percent) met World Health Organization (WHO) criteria for metabolic syndrome and 65 (13 percent) met the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP) criteria for metabolic syndrome. --more 2245 Local Time 1945 GMT
