Genitourinary Complications of Metabolic Syndrome

• Definition of Metabolic Syndrome (MetS): a constellation of clinical factors associated with an increased risk of incident cardiovascular disease and diabetes mellitus
• Must have ≥ 3 of the following 5 factors for MetS diagnosis:
  1. Abdominal obesity
  2. Elevated blood pressure
  3. Elevated blood glucose
  4. Elevated serum triglycerides
  5. Decreased HDL cholesterol

• MetS and its components are associated with increased risks of the following urologic conditions (8):
  1. ED
     • Weight loss improves erectile function in obese men with ED
  2. Male factor infertility (ejaculatory dysfunction, azoospermia, hypogonadism, spermatic DNA damage, low ejaculatory volume, diminished sperm motility)
  3. Benign prostatic enlargement and male LUTS
  4. Female urinary incontinence
     • Weight loss improves continence in obese women with SUI
  5. Urolithiasis
  6. High-grade prostate cancer
  7. Kidney cancer
  8. Bladder cancer

• Although an emerging body of knowledge links MetS to the development of urologic diseases, and familiarity with these concepts is important, practical applications of these data to urologic practice are currently limited.

References

• Wein AJ, Kavoussi LR, Partin AW, Peters CA (eds): CAMPBELL-WALSH UROLOGY, ed 11. Philadelphia, Elsevier, 2015, chap 23