Renal disease, the metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease.

Abstract

Albuminuria/proteinuria is an early and dominant element of a symptom complex that is marked by higher waist measurements, and it strongly predicts all-cause and cardiovascular illnesses and deaths. This finding implies a common background of risk factors for renal disease, hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular risk. The findings support integrated, rather than disease-specific, surveillance programs, an important role for albuminuria in predicting non-renal risk, and a unified approach for primary and secondary prevention of all elements of the syndrome.