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Impaired Fasting Glucose Screening Could Prevent Cardiovascular Disease: Presented at ADA

By Bruce Sylvester

WASHINGTON, DC -- June 14, 2006 -- Finding people with impaired fasting glucose -- a prediabetic stage -- could also help identify those with risk factors that can be modified to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, researchers said here at the American Diabetes Association 66^th Scientific Sessions (ADA).

"We found that people with impaired fasting glucose have higher rates of cardiovascular disease risk factors than people with normal fasting glucose," said lead investigator Farah Chowdhury, MBBS, MPH, research fellow, division of diabetes translation, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia, United States.

"If we can target this impaired fasting glucose group and do some interventions then, in the long-run, it might help prevent diabetes mellitus as well as cardiovascular disease among them, because people with impaired fasting glucose are more prone to develop diabetes mellitus," she said during a presentation on June 11^th.

Dr. Chowdhury and colleagues conducted a study with the aim of describing the distribution of modifiable cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors among adults with impaired fasting glucose (IFG) and to determine its public health burden in the US using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) conducted from 1999 to 2002.

The researchers analysed data from a sample of 3,030 NHANES subjects aged 20 to 75 years, who did not have a diabetes diagnosis and who had fasting glucose measurements. They defined impaired fasting glucose (IFG) as fasting blood sugar between 100 and 125 mg/dL.

Modifiable risk factors included high blood pressure (greater than or equal to 130/85 mm Hg, or on antihypertensive medication), enlarged waist circumference (men > 102 cm, women > 88 cm), obesity (body mass index greater than or equal to 30 kg/m²), elevated total cholesterol (greater than or equal to 200 mg/dL), low levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (men < 40 mg/dL, women < 50 mg/dL), high levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (greater than or equal to 130 mg/dL), high triglyceride levels (greater than or equal to 150 mg/dL), and current smoking.

Results showed that 27.9% (weighted) of the 954 nondiabetic subjects had IFG. Extrapolated to the whole US population, this represented 46 million people.

When the researchers compared subjects with normal fasting glucose (NFG) and those with IFG, they found that those with IFG were older (mean age 49.1 vs 40.8 years) and more likely to be male (37.9% female vs 56% male).

When compared with NFG subjects, those with IFG had significantly higher prevalence of high blood pressure (48.3% vs 31%), enlarged waist circumference (56% vs 37.3%), obesity (38% vs 23.4%), and dyslipidaemias, including high total cholesterol (57.2% vs 44.8%), low HDL (44.2% vs 32.8%), high LDL (47.5% vs 37.1%), and high triglycerides (44.1% vs 26.2%).

They reported a similar proportion of current smokers in both groups (24.5% in IFG vs 26.3% in NFG).

The researchers concluded that identification of persons with IFG is an effective method to identify groups of patients with a high prevalence of modifiable risk factors, who could benefit from interventions to reduce their cardiovascular risk.

The study was sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control of the US Department of Health and Human Services.


[Presentation title: Impaired Fasting Glucose and Distribution of Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors in United States. Abstract 888-P]

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