title: Sasang Constitution May Play a Key Role in Increasing the Number of Sub-Elements of Metabolic Syndrome.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Metabolic syndrome (MS), a representative cluster of chronic diseases, is defined by the presence of three or more of the following five elements: high blood glucose, high blood pressure, low high-density lipoprotein (HDL)cholesterol, high serum triglyceride levels, and abdominal obesity. Recently, innate factors have been continuously demonstrated as important risk factors for increasing the number of MS sub-elements. Sasang constitutional medicine (SCM) is a traditional Korean medicine in which each Sasang constitution (SC) type has a different susceptibility to pathology and diseases. The aim of this study is to determine whether the SC could be an independent risk factor for single and multiple MS sub-elements.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-four Korean medical clinics joined the study, and 3334 participants aged 20-80 years were recruited. Clinical data related to MS and general characteristics were obtained. The chi-square test and a one-way analysis of variance were conducted, and the odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were generated through multinomial logistic regression according to the SC.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The prevalence of single and multiple MS sub-elements was significantly different according to SC. The ORs of the Tae-Eumin (TE) type were significantly high for abdominal obesity, diabetes mellitus, hypertriglyceridemia, low HDL cholesterol, and hypertension. The ORs for the So-Yangin type were also high in hypertriglyceridemia and low HDL cholesterol compared with the So-Eumin type, even after being adjusted for sex, age, body mass index, and eating habits. As the numbers of MS sub-elements increased, the ORs of the TE type also increased.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study showed that the SC types may be risk factors for not only single MS sub-elements but also multiple MS sub-elements and that the TE type's risk degree is associated with an increase in the number of MS sub-elements.
authors.affiliation: 1 Department of Nursing, Sangmyung University , Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea .
authors.forename: Yunyoung
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: 2 Mibyeong Research Center, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine , Daejeon, South Korea .
authors.forename: Kihyun
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: 2 Mibyeong Research Center, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine , Daejeon, South Korea .
authors.forename: Jonghyang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yoo
authors.affiliation: 2 Mibyeong Research Center, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine , Daejeon, South Korea .|3 Department of Diagnosis College of Korean Medicine, Daejeon University , Daejeon, South Korea .
authors.forename: Eunsu
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jang
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D055670:Medicine, Korean Traditional; D024821:Metabolic Syndrome / Q000145:classification* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult