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Ninety percent of approximately 463 million people with diabetes worldwide have type 2 diabetes. Obesity is known to be the main modifier of type 2 diabetes, but genes have also been found to be an indicator of a predisposition. to type 2 diabetes.
“Because we are born with our genes, it might be possible to identify early in life who has a high chance of developing diabetes in life,” said lead researcher Brian Ference, MD, MPhil, MSc, FACC, FESC, professor of the Cambridge University and visiting professor at the University of Milan, in a press release. “We conducted this study to find out if combining inherited risk with current body mass index (BMI) could identify people with the highest risk of developing diabetes. Prevention efforts could focus on these people.”
In the study, the researchers evaluated data from 445,765 participants from the UK Biobank. The participants had an average age of 57.2 years and 54% were women.
Using 6.9 million genes, the researchers analyzed genetic data to assess each participant’s inherited risk. In addition, they used the height and weight of the participants to calculate their BMI in kg / m2. The participants were then classified into 5 groups based on genetic risk for type 2 diabetes and 5 groups based on BMI.
The researchers conducted a follow-up visit with the participants when they had an average age of 65.2 years. At that time, 31,298 of the participants had T2D.
Those in the highest BMI group with an average BMI of 34.5 kg / m2 were found to have an 11 times higher risk of type 2 diabetes than those in the lowest BMI group. Those in the group with a high BMI were found to have the highest probability of developing DM2 during the study period, regardless of their genetic predisposition to the disease.
“The findings indicate that BMI is a much more powerful risk factor for diabetes than genetic predisposition,” Ference said in a news release.
The researchers also investigated whether the duration of the period in which a participant has a high BMI influenced the development of type 2 diabetes. After using statistical methods to assess probability, they found that the duration of a high BMI did not affect risk. of type 2 diabetes.
“This suggests that when people cross a certain BMI threshold, their chances of diabetes increase and they remain at the same high-risk level regardless of how long they are overweight,” Ference said.
Additionally, Ference noted that the effect of a high BMI would most likely vary from person to person, with the key indicator being the point at which the individual begins to develop abnormal blood sugar levels.
“The findings indicate that most cases of diabetes could be prevented by keeping the BMI below the limit that triggers an abnormal blood sugar level. This means that to prevent diabetes, both BMI and blood sugar must be tested with regularity. Efforts to lose weight are critical when a person begins to develop blood sugar problems, “Ference said in the news release. “It may also be possible to reverse diabetes by losing weight in the early stages before permanent damage occurs.”
REFERENCE
Body mass index is a more powerful risk factor for diabetes than genetics. Congress of the European Society of Cardiology 2020; August 31, 2020. sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200831090129.htm. Retrieved September 3, 2020.
