Chien et al. examined the metabolic syndrome’s relationship to coronary heart disease and stroke in an 11 year prospective cohort study in the Taiwan community. As reported in other population studies, the metabolic syndrome significantly increased the risk ratio for coronary disease and stroke. For coronary disease, low HDL cholesterol had a substantial impact on clinical outcomes. For stroke, blood pressure was the variable that had the greatest impact. The authors concluded that the metabolic syndrome is prevalent in the adult population of Taiwan and that its clinical diagnosis predicts an increased risk of coronary heart disease.