What is the paradoxical effect of the metabolic syndrome on mortality in patients withHeart Failure (HF)?
The paradoxical effect of the metabolic syndrome on mortality in patients with Heart Failure (HF) is that although obesity, higher Blood Pressure (BP) and elevated cholesterol are risk factors for the development of HF and mortality in the general adult population, these factors are associated with improved survival in patients with established HF. The metabolic syndrome is associated with higher all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in the general adult but as suggested by Hassan et al,296 the metabolic syndrome may exert an inverse association with improved survival in the HF population. Further studies are warranted to confirm and better understand this paradox.