[Obesity and the metabolic syndrome: a new epidemic]. / Obésite et syndrome métabolique: une epid6mie pour le nouveau siècle.

The disorder now known as the "metabolic syndrome "was first recognized 50 years ago, but the use of various definitions led to confusion over its real nature. The metabolic syndrome is directly linked to android obesity, which reflects insulin resistance; it lies at the root of all associated risk factors and is a forerunner of type 2 diabetes. Screening is based on systematic waist measurement, taking ethnic origin into account. This pragmatic approach avoids the uncertainties generated by different definitions and is less restrictive than a simple diagnosis of the metabolic syndrome. Non drug treatment of android obesity is inexpensive and effective but may be difficult to apply, owing to a number of social issues.

Military community: a privileged site for clinical research: Epidemiological Study of Metabolic Syndrome Risk Factors in the Military Environment.

The metabolic syndrome is considered to be an important public health problem. The Epidemiological Study of Metabolic Syndrome Risk Factors in the Military Environment is a prospective epidemiological study that is designed to identify clinical and laboratory parameters of metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular risk factors with an initial 1-year cross-sectional study followed by a 10-year follow-up and patient care. One hundred eight-five (9%) of 2,045 military personnel subjects presented at least three of the five National Cholesterol Education Program Expert Panel on Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Cholesterol in Adults (Adult Treatment Panel III) criteria. They were significantly older (42.2 +/- 8.5 years) than the other subjects (37.3 +/- 8.7 years, p < 0.001), had a higher body mass index (BMI) (29.5 +/- 3.4 vs. 24.8 +/- 2.9, p < 0.001), and a greater body weight at age 20 (75.4 +/- 11 vs. 70.4 +/- 8.5 kg, p < 0.001). Smoking, little physical activity, and family histories of diabetes and arterial hypertension were more frequent in these subjects. Total plasma cholesterol and C-reactive protein were higher. Plasma insulin and BMI (r = 0.456, p < 0.0001) and plasma insulin and waist circumference (r = 0.446, p < 0.0001) were well correlated. Plasma insulin and homeostasis model assessment increased with the number of metabolic syndrome criteria. These results demonstrate a strong association with insulin resistance. Men with several risk factors require specific care especially for hypertension and dyslipidemia that will be evaluated during the follow-up period. Genotyping of subjects having metabolic syndrome vs. controls for genes, presumably involved should enlarge the area of exploration of this syndrome.

[Urinary dipsticks must not be used to detect diabetes-induced incipient nephropathy]. / Inefficacité des bandelettes urinaires dans la recherche de néphropathie incipiens chez les diabétiques.

INTRODUCTION: Microalbuminuria is an early indication of diabetic nephropathy in patients with Type 1 diabetes and a marker of cardiovascular in patients with type 2 diabetes. It must therefore be assessed annually in these patients. We sought to determine whether semiquantitative determination of proteinuria with urinary dipsticks was useful for this purpose. METHOD: This analysis of consecutive urinary samples among diabetic patients excluded those with dipstick results positive either for leukocyturia or nitrituria, to avoid false positives due to urinary infection. We assessed the reliability of the dipsticks in comparison with conventional microalbuminuria and proteinuria assays. RESULTS: The study included 230 patients. Positive dipstick results had good positive (95.7%) and negative (93.9%) predictive values. Low levels of microalbuminuria, however - those that lead to early adjustment of treatment, were much more difficult to identify: the negative predictive value was only 73.7% and proteinuria was no longer correlated with microalbuminuria. DISCUSSION: Urinary dipsticks cannot replace conventional assays for microalbuminuria or proteinuria.