Hypertension and the cardiometabolic syndrome.

Hypertension and cardiovascular disease are leading causes of morbidity and mortality. Accumulating data demonstrate a relationship between hypertension and several vascular and metabolic abnormalities that are components of the cardiometabolic syndrome. The components of the cardiometabolic syndrome include insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemia, central obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension, microalbuminuria, increased inflammation, and oxidative stress. There is growing evidence that tissue activation of the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system participates in endothelial dysfunction, microalbuminuria, insulin resistance, and subsequent cardiovascular and chronic kidney disease. The notion that hypertension is a metabolic as well as a vascular disease opens a new paradigm for the treatment of this disorder.