[Association of current and past smoking with metabolic syndrome in men]

The objective of this study was to determine the relationship between past smoking and the risk factors for metabolic syndrome.

From January 2007 to December 2007, a total of 3,916 over thirty years old male health screen examinees were divided into the nonsmoking, smoking, ex-smoking groups. The diagnosis of metabolic syndrome was based on the criteria of the NCEP ATP (Executive Summary of The Third Report of The National Cholesterol Education Program). Metabolic syndrome was defined as the presence of three or more of the following: a blood pressure > or =130/85 mmHg, a fasting glucose level > or = 110 mg/dL, a HDL-C (High Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol) level < 40 mg/dL, a triglyceride level > or = 150 mg/dL and, a waist circumference men > or = 102 cm, but a waist to hip ratio > 0.90 was used as a surrogate for the waist circumference.

After adjustment for age, alcohol consumption and, exercise in the smokers, for the ex-smokers compared with the nonsmokers, the odds ratio (OR) of a lower HDL cholesterol level (< 40 mg/dL) was 1.29 (95% CI=1.03-1.61) in the smokers, the ORs of a higher triglyceride level were 1.35 (95% CI=1.09-1.66) in the ex-smokers and, 2.12 (95% CI=1.75-2.57) in the smokers, and the OR of a waist to hip ratio was 1.25 (95% CI=1.03-1.52) in the ex-smokers. When there were over three components of metabolic syndrome in the ex-smokers and smokers as compared with the nonsmokers, the odds ratio against the risk of metabolic syndrome were 2.39 (95% CI=1.00-6.63) and 2.37 (95% CI=1.02-6.46), respectively.

The present study suggested that there is an association of smoking with metabolic syndrome in men.