Association Between Cigarette Smoking and Metabolic Syndrome

Abstract

Metabolic syndrome is highly prevalent in the U.S. (age-adjusted prevalence of 23.7%) (1) and in Korea (20.8% for men and 26.9% for women) (2). This syndrome is well documented to increase the risk for developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and is associated with an all-cause mortality (3–5). Physical inactivity, excessive weight gain, high alcohol intake, and certain dietary factors have been identified as important modifiable risk factors for metabolic syndrome and its consequences (2,6,7). Smoking is also a strong risk factor for atherosclerosis and CVD, with a dose-dependent relationship (8). Smokers have abnormalities in lipoprotein metabolism (9) and endothelial function (10). Moreover, there is some evidence that smokers are at greater risk than nonsmokers of becoming insulin resistant and hyperinsulinemic (11,12). Thus, based on these findings, smoking may be considered as an important modifiable risk factor for metabolic syndrome. However, this relationship has not been clarified, and reports on this issue are also scarce. The aim of this study was to search for associations between smoking and metabolic syndrome with a representative population-based sample in Korea. This study was based on the 1998 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Selection methods for a nationwide representative sample of Koreans and other survey methods were detailed elsewhere (2 …