DeBoer MD, et al. - Given that laboratory studies done following an 8-h fast are needed for many traditional evaluations of risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) and diabetes, researchers investigated if metabolic-syndrome (MetS) severity would continue to be associated with future CHD and diabetes even when evaluated from non-fasting samples. Evaluation of individuals in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study was done at 4 visits and these people were observed for 20-years of adjudicated CHD outcomes. In participants who were fasting (≥ 8 h) or non-fasting, the link between a calculated race/ethnicity-specific MetS-severity Z-score (MetS-Z) and incident disease risk was compared, using Cox proportional-hazard models and logistic regression. Findings revealed the association of MetS-Z with future CHD and diabetes when evaluated from non-fasting samples. The detection of at-risk people may be enabled by such a score, which may also serve as a motivation toward interventions to decrease risk.