Men develop diabetes at lower BMIs than women, study shows
3 October 2011
Type 2 diabetes is a condition caused by too much sugar in the blood, which occurs when the body's ability to regulate sugar levels in several different organs becomes disturbed, a process linked to excess fat in some of these organs such as the liver and muscles. Around 2.8 million people in the UK have type 2 diabetes.
Professor Naveed Sattar from the University of Glasgow, who led the research, said: "Being overweight is a major risk factor for developing type 2 diabetes although there are many other factors involved too, such as age, ethnicity and genetics.
"Previous research has indicated that middle-aged men are at a higher risk of developing diabetes than women and one possible explanation is that men have to gain less weight than women to develop the condition."
To test this theory, researchers analysed data from 51 920 men and 43 137 women in Scotland with diabetes and compared body mass index (BMI) levels that had been recorded within one year of diagnosis, and the age of the patients. They also took into account other factors such as smoking rates.
The results showed the mean BMI at diabetes diagnosis was 31.83 in men but 33.69 in women. This difference was most marked at younger ages.
Prof. Sattar said: "The results from this research confirm an inverse relationship between BMI and age at diagnosis of type 2 diabetes. Importantly, there is no evidence that men are diagnosed any earlier in the course of their diabetes."
Reasons why men should develop diabetes with less weight gain than women may be linked to fat distribution. In general, men without diabetes already carry more fat in their abdominal regions and liver than women. Women have greater amounts of 'safe' subcutaneous fat than men and so the results are consistent with the hypothesis that women need to accumulate greater total adiposity than men to develop harmful fat deposits and produce the extent of metabolic perturbation required to develop diabetes.
Dr Victoria King, Head of Research at Diabetes UK, said: "It is worrying that men develop type 2 diabetes at a higher rate than their female counterparts. Research like this will help us understand reasons why and provide greater insight into what we can do to improve prevention of type 2 diabetes.
"Diabetes UK is calling on both men and women to reduce their chances of developing type 2 diabetes by losing any excess weight, eating a healthy, balanced diet and by taking regular physical activity."
The research was funded by the Wellcome Trust through the Scottish Health Informatics Programme (SHIP) and the Scottish Government, and NHS Research Scotland through the Scottish Diabetes Research Network.
Image: Weighing scales. Credit: Anne-Katrin Purkiss/Wellcome Images
Reference
Logue J et al. Do men develop type 2 diabetes at lower body mass indices than women? Diabetologia 2011.
