Preventing Diabetes and Atherosclerosis in Sub-Saharan Africa: Should the Metabolic Syndrome Have a Role?

Obesity, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and type 2 diabetes mellitus are increasing in all regions of sub-Saharan Africa. The metabolic syndrome is a valuable tool in predicting atherosclerosis and type 2 diabetes in populations in Europe and North America. However, the applicability of the metabolic syndrome to African populations has not been studied. Prior to investing scarce funds into diagnosing and treating the metabolic syndrome, primary research needs to be designed to determine the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome and its ability to detect early, treatable disease in Africa. Assessment of these data should make it possible to determine if it is more effective to focus on the metabolic syndrome as a whole or on obesity, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and type 2 diabetes as individual conditions. This article is an overview of the presentation of metabolic syndrome variables in the Eastern, Western, and Southern regions of sub-Saharan Africa.