Syndrome in Japanese Men

C igarette smoking increases the riskfor metabolic syndrome (1), and itmay also affect hematological pa-rameters (2). Because certain hematolog-ical parameters may be associated with metabolic syndrome (3), we have investi-gated whether the mode of association between smoking and metabolic syn-drome varies according to hematological parameters. Among individuals who had under-gone a general heath screening test be-tween 1994 and 2003, 27,972 subjects (9,729 never smokers [52.8 10.7 years], 7,242 former smokers [54.8 9.9 years], and 11,001 current smokers [50.4 9.8 years]) answered in full a questionnaire concerning their smoking habits and were enrolled in the current study. Metabolic syndrome was defined as the presence of three or more of the following: 1) fasting glucose110mg/dl, 2) blood pressure 130/85 mmHg, 3) triglycerides 150 mg/dl, 4) HDL chol-esterol 40 mg/dl, and 5) BMI 25 kg/m2. The interquartile cutoff points were 4,700, 5,500, and 6,600 cells/l for white blood cell (WBC) count and 14.4, 15.1, and 15.7 g/dl for hemoglobin level. Compared with the never smokers, the WBC count and hemoglobin level were significantly higher in the current smokers (5,200 1,200 vs. 6,400 1,800 cells/l, P 0.0001, and 14.8 1.0 vs. 15.2 1.0 mg/dl, P 0.0001, respectively). After adjusting for age and total cholesterol level, logistic re-gression analysis showed that current smokers had a higher incidence of metabolic syndrome with an odds ratio (OR) of 1.59 (95 % CI 1.47–1.73) compared with never smokers. Com-pared with the lowest quartile (Q), the incidence of metabolic syndrome was significantly more frequent in the higher quartiles of the WBC count (Q2