Washington, August 20 : Metabolic syndrome, which comprises a group of medical disorders that increase people''s risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and premature death risk, may contribute to kidney disease, according to a new study led by an Indian-origin researcher.

A patient is diagnosed with the syndrome when he or she exhibits three or more of the following characteristics: high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat in the waist/abdomen, low good cholesterol, and higher levels of fatty acids (the building blocks of fat), researchers say.

Sankar Navaneethan, MD (Cleveland Clinic) and his colleagues searched the medical literature and combined data from 11 studies examining the relationship between metabolic syndrome and kidney disease. Altogether, they included 30,416 individuals from various ethnic groups.

They found that people with metabolic syndrome have a 55 percent increased risk of developing kidney problems, especially lower kidney function, indicative of kidney disease.

Individual components of metabolic syndrome are linked with the development of kidney disease.

Kidney disease risk increases as the number of metabolic syndrome components increases.

"Primary care physicians may need to consider using metabolic syndrome as a marker to identify patients at higher risk of developing kidney disease," said Dr. Navaneethan.

The study will be published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). (ANI)