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Metabolic Syndrome Not Linked with Incident OA
Arthritis Rheumatol; ePub 2017 Mar 3; Niu, et al
After adjustment for body mass index (BMI), neither metabolic syndrome (MetS) nor its components were associated with incident osteoarthritis (OA), a recent study found. Framingham Study subjects were assessed for OA in 1992-95 and again in 2002-05; near the baseline visit, subjects had components of the MetS assessed. 991 subjects (55.1% women; mean age 54.2 years) were studied. Researchers defined incident radiographic OA (ROA) as present when a knee without ROA developed Kellgren and Lawrence grade ≥2 at follow-up and defined incident symptomatic OA (SxOA) as present when a knee developed the new combination of ROA and knee pain. They found:
- 26.7% of men and 22.9% of women had MetS.
- MetS and many of its components were associated with both incident ROA and SxOA, but after adjustment for BMI, almost all of these associations became weak and nonsignificant.
- An association of high blood pressure, especially diastolic pressure, with OA outcomes persisted in both men and women.
Niu J, Clancy M, Aliabadi O, Vasan R, Felson DT. The metabolic syndrome, its components and knee osteoarthritis (OA): The Framingham OA Study. [Published online ahead of print March 3, 2017]. Arthritis Rheumatol. doi:10.1002/art.40087.