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San Antonio Heart Study: Mexican Americans face excess risk for diabetes incidence
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Previous studies have found that ethnic disparities can be detected at the early and later stages of diabetes progression. However, data from the San Antonio Heart Study has found that non-Hispanic white patients lose much of their ethnic advantage once they have already developed obesity.
The San Antonio Heart Study (SAHS) is an ongoing longitudinal, epidemiological study designed to examine type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease among Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites who live in San Antonio. Participants of the study included 3,015 Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic whites aged 25 to 64 years. The median follow-up was 7.8 years.
Carlos Lorenzo, MD, of the division of clinical epidemiology, University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio, and colleagues assessed impaired glucose tolerance and impaired fasting glucose stages in nonobese and obese patients within the SAHS.
They found that Mexican Americans had an excess risk for incident IGT (OR=1.48; 95% CI, 1.16-1.89) and incident IFG (OR=1.71; 95% CI, 1.31-2.23) compared with non-Hispanic whites, according to data. Moreover, Mexican Americans also had a higher incidence of diabetes among those who had normal 2-hour glucose (OR=2.20; 95% CI, 1.48-3.29) and IGT (OR=1.72; 95% CI, 1.08-2.74) at baseline.
“Insulin resistance, insulin secretion, and plasma glucose levels are involved in the disease process before and after the onset of IGT. These risk factors predict type 2 diabetes equally well in high- and low-risk populations,” researchers wrote.
Researchers discovered an interaction between obesity and the relationship between ethnicity and progression to IGT or diabetes, they wrote (P=.034). Nonobese Mexican Americans were at greater risk for this (OR=1.73; 95% CI, 1.36-2.21) compared with obese Mexican Americans (OR=1.08; 95% CI, 0.75-1.56), according to data.
Therefore, researchers concluded that Mexican Americans had a higher risk for developing diabetes in relation to greater adiposity and higher baseline glucose levels. The researchers suggest that physicians emphasize lifestyle management improvements among Mexican Americans and non-Hispanic white patients.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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