Scholze et al. BMC Public Health 2010, 10:529 http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/10/529 59. Scholze J, Grimm E, Herrmann D, Unger T, Kintscher U: Optimal treatment of obesity-related hypertension: the Hypertension-Obesity-Sibutramine (HOS) study. Circulation 2007, 115:1991-1998. 60. Kurtz TW: New treatment strategies for patients with hypertension and insulin resistance. Am J Med 2006, 119:S24-S30. Pre-publication history The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/10/529/prepub doi:10.1186/1471-2458-10-529 Cite this article as: Scholze et al.: Epidemiological and economic burden of metabolic syndrome and its consequences in patients with hypertension in Germany, Spain and Italy; a prevalence-based model. BMC Public Health 2010 10:529. Page 12 of 12 Submit your next manuscript to BioMed Central and take full advantage of: • Convenient online submission • Thorough peer review • No space constraints or color ﬁgure charges • Immediate publication on acceptance • Inclusion in PubMed, CAS, Scopus and Google Scholar • Research which is freely available for redistribution Submit your manuscript at www.biomedcentral.com/submit