Cigarette smoking increases risk for incident metabolic syndrome in Chinese men-Shanghai diabetes study

To determine whether smoking increases the risk for developing metabolic syndrome (MetS) in Chinese men.

A total of 693 men with no MetS at baseline were followed for 2.9-5.5 years. Subjects were divided into nonsmokers, ex-smokers, and current smokers according to baseline smoking status.

After adjusting for age, education level, alcohol intake, fasting plasma insulin, HOMA-IR index, and BMI at baseline and weight change, current smokers were dose-dependently associated with increased risk for developing new MetS compared with nonsmokers. The odds ratio (OR) was 2.131 (95% CI, 1.264, 3.592; P<0.01) for the NCEPIII definition or 3.083 (95% CI, 1.807, 5.295; P<0.01) for the JCDCG definition of MetS. Ex-smokers who had quit for ≥13 years significantly decreased the risk for developing new MetS defined by the JCDCG definition. Compared with nonsmokers, current smokers were significantly associated with increased incidence of hypertriglyceridemia and low HDL-C.

Smoking is a risk factor for developing MetS in Chinese men after adjusting for age, education level, alcohol intake, fasting plasma insulin, HOMA-IR, BMI, and weight change. This could be due to an increased incidence of dyslipidemia. Smoking cessation for >13 years decreased the risk for developing MetS defined by the JCDCG definition.