The incidence of Type 2 diabetes in a population of German men and women over 55 years of age is high, according to data from a longitudinal, population-based study.

With increasing proportions of elderly individuals in many populations and the greater likelihood of developing Type 2 diabetes with age, it becomes increasingly important to have accurate and up-to-date incidence data for older populations.

In 1999??”2001, Wolfgang Rathmann (Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf, Germany) and co-workers performed oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs) in a random sample of 2656 individuals aged 55 to 74 years living in the Augsburg region of southern Germany.

In 2006??”2008 they re-investigated the cohort to determine the incidence of Type 2 diabetes in an elderly population in Germany and its association with clinical and lifestyle factors.

Of 1353 individuals without Type 2 diabetes at baseline, 887 (74%) participated in the follow-up. Incident diabetes was defined by a validated physician diagnosis, or a fasting plasma glucose of at least 7.0 mmol/l or 2-hour OGTT of at least 11.1 mmol/l.

Other measurements taken at baseline and follow-up included height, weight, waist circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, smoking status, physical activity, and family history of diabetes. Blood was collected for laboratory measurements.

During the 7-year follow-up period, 93 (10.5%) individuals developed diabetes, giving a total standardized incidence rate of 15.5 per 1000 person-years. Incidence rates for men were 20.2, and for women 11.3 per 1000 person-years.

The authors also investigated whether risk factors for Type 2 diabetes identified in other age groups have the same importance in the elderly.

“In line with previous studies (central) obesity, hypertension, parental diabetes, and serum uric acid were important risk factors, whereas physical inactivity and alcohol intake were not related to incident diabetes in the total study population,” note the authors.

Both impaired fasting glucose and impaired glucose tolerance were associated with an increased risk for Type 2 diabetes, and their combined presence was associated with a very high risk, with a 7-year cumulative Type 2 diabetes incidence of almost 50%.

“This longitudinal study provides an up-to-date estimate of Type 2 diabetes incidence in a European population. It also shows that diabetes risk can be estimated by glucose measurements using the OGTT,” conclude Rathmann and team in the journal Diabetic Medicine.

MedWire (www.medwire-news.md) is an independent clinical news service provided by Current Medicine Group, a trading division of Springer Healthcare Limited. © Springer Healthcare Ltd; 2009

Free abstract

• What is the Glycemic Index Chart?
• What Causes Diabetes is Not a Myth
• Diabetic Diet - The ADA Food Pyramid Should Be Turned on It's Head
• Blood Glucose Monitors
• Diabetes - More on Exercise - Part 4 of 4
• Eating Sugar Sweets and Diabetes
• 5 Choices of Diet Foods and Tips to Control Diabetes
• Diabetes Control Solutions - Can Diabetes Be Controlled?

No Comments »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URL

Leave a comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.