03 Sep Elevated Calcium Linked To Increased Diabetes Risk
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Jordi Salas-Salvadó MD PhD
Physiopathology of Obesity and Nutrition
Institute of Health Carlos III, Madrid, Spain
Medical Research: What are the main findings of the study?
Dr. Salas-Salvadó: The main finding of our study is that an increase in albumin-adjusted serum calcium increases the risk of type 2 diabetes in Mediterranean individuals at high cardiovascular risk. This association remained significant even after taking classic risk factors into account. To the best of our knowledge this is the first study assessing the association between changes in serum calcium levels and the risk of type 2 diabetes development.
Medical Research: Were any of the findings unexpected?
Dr. Salas-Salvadó: Because calcium plays an important role in insulin and glucose metabolism, it was expected that an altered calcium homeostasis would be associated with an increased risk of type 2 diabetes development. Our results support this notion and are in concordance with previous epidemiologic studies.
Medical Research: What should clinicians and patients take away from your report?
Dr. Salas-Salvadó: They should take away that serum calcium levels could be a risk marker of type 2 diabetes development in elderly at high cardiovascular risk. However, further studies are needed so as to support our notions and to establish the mechanisms involved. For this reason, is too early for doctors use serum calcium levels as a marker of diabetes risk.
Medical Research: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Dr. Salas-Salvadó: As we commented in the previous answer, more in vivo studies are warranted in order to appreciate the mechanisms involved between changes in serum calcium levels and glucose and insulin metabolism. Moreover, further longitudinals studies in other populations are warranted to confirm our findings.
Citation:
Diabetes Care. 2014 Aug 19. pii: DC_140898. [Epub ahead of print]
Becerra-Tomás N1, Estruch R2, Bulló M1, Casas R2, Díaz-López A1, Basora J1, Fitó M3, Serra-Majem L4, Salas-Salvadó J5.
Last Updated on September 3, 2014 by Marie Benz MD FAAD