03 Jun Risk Factors for Type 2 Diabetes Preceded by β-Cell Dysfunction, Insulin Resistance, or Both in Older Adults

Dr. Fumiaki Imamura, Ph.D.
Research Fellow
Harvard School of Public Heath
Department of Epidemiology
677 Huntington Ave, Kresge-913C
Boston, MA

MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings of the study?

Dr. Imamura: Among older adults, risk factors for type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) were differentially associated with DM preceded predominantly by IR or β-cell dysfunction.

MedicalResearch.com:Were any of the findings unexpected?

Dr. Imamura: For subsets of incident DM, some conventional DM risk factors, including body-mass index and HDL-cholesterol, could not predict incident DM.

MedicalResearch.com:What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?

Dr. Imamura: DM is a heterogeneous disease, depending on underlying degrees of insulin resistance and b-cell dysfunction.  Extents to which risk factors can predict future DM events appeared varied.

MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?

Dr. Imamura:  Risk factors and diagnosis for incident DM, with in-depth consideration into underlying degrees of insulin resistance and b-cell dysfunction.  Both DM phenotypes at the time of DM diagnosis need to be well-characterized beyond blood measurements at a fasting state.

Citation:

Risk Factors for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Preceded by β-Cell Dysfunction, Insulin Resistance, or Both in Older Adults: The Cardiovascular Health Study Imamura, Kenneth J. Mukamal, James B. Meigs, José A. Luchsinger, Joachim H. Ix, David S. Siscovick, and Dariush Mozaffarian
Am. J. Epidemiol. first published online May 24, 2013 doi:10.1093/aje/kws440

Last Updated on February 3, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD