Background: People with metabolic syndrome are twice as likely to die from, and three times as likely to have a heart attack or stroke compared with people without the syndrome. People with metabolic syndrome have a five-fold greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes. We investigated the prevalence of metabolic syndrome in patients with newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus. Methods: It was a cross sectional study. The study was conducted in Department of Biochemistry, Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College, Sylhet & Diabetic Hospital, Sylhet. The study was conducted From July 2008 to June 2009 among 200 patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients with age >20 years. Along with blood glucose, different components of metabolic syndrome was assessed, i.e. serum triglyceride level, serum HDL level, blood pressure and waist circumference. Results- Prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 73.5% according to NCEP-ATP III criteria, 81.0% according to modified NCEP-ATP III criteria, 82.5% according to modified WHO criteria and 61.0% according to IDF criteria. All variables other than waist hip ratio and fasting blood sugar had statistically significant higher mean values among patients with metabolic syndrome than patients without metabolic syndrome. Conclusion: It may be concluded that prevalence of metabolic syndrome is considerable in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients in our population. The considerable prevalence of metabolic syndrome in our population is implicative of an alarming risk of cardiovascular disease in future. Keywords: Metabolic syndrome; Type II diabetes mellitus. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/cardio.v4i1.9385 Cardiovasc. J. 2011; 4(1): 17-25

Introduction: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is a major concern for the developed as well as developing countries. It poses with enormous disabilities and economic burden to the victims. The treatment cost of diabetes is increasing day by day. Aim: To ascertain how type 2 diabetes mellitus is incurring economic burden to the patients. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross sectional study was conducted during the period from January to June 2010 on 110 type 2 diabetes mellitus patients attending Combined Military Hospital, Dhaka. The patients were selected conveniently and data were collected by face to face interview with the help of a semi-structured questionnaire. For estimation of economic burden, both direct and indirect treatment costs were calculated. Results: The study revealed that majority (36.4%) of the patients were in the age group of 46-55 years with the mean age of 53.65 (+10.44) years. Majority (60.0%) of them had lower monthly family income (Tk.5, 000-Tk.10, 000) and 36.4% of them lived in urban area. Most of the patients (90.9%) were under treatment with drug, diet control and physical exercise. Regarding sources of fund for treatment, 31.8% patients used their savings while 27.3% took loan, 20% got help from relatives and the remaining 20.9% got donation and sold wealth. Average treatment cost incurred by the patients was estimated to Tk. 5543.35 (+1273.29). Average direct treatment cost was estimated to Tk.2656.88 (+1367.23) of which average drug cost was Tk.653.36 (+476.36), investigation cost was Tk.596.73 (+375.56), travel cost Tk.530.31 (+795.46), attendant cost Tk.865.87 (+734.22) and consultation fee was Tk.244.48 (+167.22). Average indirect cost was calculated to Tk.3081.27 (+1275.91) which was only due to loss of income due to illness. Conclusion: The study findings will enable the health policy makers and health care providers at different levels to provide need based cost-effective health care services to reduce the economic burden of diabetes mellitus patients. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/jafmc.v9i1.18718 Journal of Armed Forces Medical College Bangladesh Vol.9(1) 2013: 8-13