The metabolic syndrome and Alzheimer disease

The metabolic syndrome is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, which have been linked to Alzheimer disease. However, a link between Alzheimer disease and the metabolic syndrome has not yet been established.

To investigate the relationship between the metabolic syndrome and Alzheimer disease.

Case-control study of 50 consecutive patients diagnosed with probable Alzheimer disease from the Memory Disorders Clinics, Launceston, Australia, and Bristol, England, and 75 cognitively normal controls.

The odds ratio of the metabolic syndrome as defined by the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III.

Compared with controls, patients with Alzheimer disease had a significantly larger mean waist circumference, higher mean plasma concentrations of triglycerides and glucose, and a lower mean plasma concentration of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, but they had lower mean systolic blood pressure. The metabolic syndrome was associated with Alzheimer disease (odds ratio, 3.2; 95% confidence interval, 1.2-8.4; P = .02), and this association was strengthened when the hypertension component was excluded (odds ratio, 7.0; 95% confidence interval, 2.7-18.3; P < .001). All of the analyses were adjusted for age, sex, and location.

This study suggests that Alzheimer disease is associated with the metabolic syndrome. This could have implications for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer disease.