High `Normal' Fasting Glucose Signals Diabetes Risk in Men

There's no question that an impaired fasting plasma glucose (FPG) level isa risk for type 2 diabetes. A recently reported large-scale Israeli studysuggests that an elevated risk of diabetes exists even within“normal” ranges ofFPG.

In the October 6, 2005, issue of the New England Journal ofMedicine, a group of investigators reported a study of 13,163 malemilitary personnel 26–45 years of age. Blood tests, data from physicalexaminations, and medical and lifestyle information were collected for allparticipants.

Researchers identified 208 cases of type 2 diabetes that developed during1992–2004. Analysis of data showed that when other risk factors werecontrolled for—smoking, physical activity, and family history ofdiabetes—a “progressively increasing risk” of diabetes waslinked to FPG levels ≥87 mg/dl. Men with test results in this range werenearly five times more likely to develop diabetes than those with an FPG of<81 mg/dl.

An FPG of 91–99 mg/dl, combined with a serum triglyceride level of>150 mg/dl, produced a risk of diabetes more than eight times that of aperson with triglycerides ≤150 mg/dl and an FPG of <86 mg/dl. A bodymass index (BMI) ≥30, along with an FPG of 91–99 mg/dl, alsoincreased the risk of type 2 diabetes eightfold.

“Higher fasting plasma glucose levels within the normoglycemic rangeconstitute an independent risk factor for type 2 diabetes,” the authorsconclude. “[S]uch levels may help, along with body mass index andtriglyceride levels, to identify apparently healthy men at increased risk ofdiabetes.”

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