Psychiatry Research EG

The metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a cluster of disorders comprising obesity (central and abdominal), dyslipidemia, glucose intolerance, insulin resistance (or hyperinsulinemia), and hypertension [1]. In addition, MetS is thought to be highly predictive of type II diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), and increased incidence of chronic kidney disease [2,3]. It was in 1998 that the term ‘metabolic syndrome’ was used globally by a number of organizations [4,5]. People with severe mental illnesses (SMI), such as schizophrenia, have approximately 20% reduced life expectancy and the mortality rate due to coronary heart disease is significantly higher compared with the general population [6,7]. They have nearly twice the normal risk of dying from CVD [8]. The high prevalence of MetS in schizophrenia patients has assumed greater significance since the increase in the use of second-generation antipsychotics in the 1990s. Most of these secondgeneration antipsychotics have been associated with substantial weight gain, which is a major risk factor for diabetes and coronary heart disease [9]. The link between various mental illnesses and different components of MetS is becoming clearer [10]. One group of investigators found that people with schizophrenia (both those with first episodes and those chronically exposed to conventional and nonconventional medications) have more than three times as much intraabdominal fat as controls matched for age, sex, and lifestyle [11,12]. It is generallyestimated that MetS is especially common in patients with SMI, with a high prevalence in the range of 30–60% for schizophrenic and bipolar disorders [9,13]. In addition, people with SMI are more likely to be overweight, to smoke, and to have hyperglycemia/diabetes, hypertension, and dyslipidemia [13]. In the psychiatric community, this has led in recent years to a growing concern about physical illness in people with SMI, specifically the risk of CVD [14]. It is essential to study the link between components of MetS/modifiable components and physical/ medical illnesses in mentally ill patients [10]. The aim of this preliminary study was to determine the rate of development of MetS among a sample of drugnaive patients compared with a matched control group and to identify the significant criteria of developing MetS among the studied participants