Obesity and excess weight increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, but individuals of normal weight can also develop the disease.
Scientists from Lund University in Sweden found that it is possible to identify at-risk individuals by measuring BMI in a new way.
They identified metabolic changes linked to obesity that can increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
The research is published in Diabetes Care and was conducted by Filip Ottosson et al.
Type 2 diabetes can be linked to a sedentary lifestyle which in turn can lead to excess weight and obesity.
Up to 20 percent of type 2 diabetes patients are of normal weight, and it is important to identify individuals in this group that are at risk.
In the study, the team examined whether it is possible to identify them by measuring the levels of some of the metabolites that are relevant for metabolism.
They measured the levels of 108 metabolites associated with diabetes in blood samples of 7,663 participants in Sweden and Italy.
The participants were divided into five different groups based on their metabolic BMI.
The team found a group of individuals with regular BMI who nonetheless had metabolic alterations linked to obesity in their metabolism.
This group had a twofold risk of developing type 2 diabetes compared to individuals with a normal BMI based on their weight, height, and metabolism.
The research team used machine learning methods to classify participants with different metabolic profiles to calculate the risk for type 2 diabetes.
The team then followed up with participants who developed type 2 diabetes in the population-based Malmö Diet Cancer (MDC) cohort in Sweden, which has a follow-up time of 20 years.
The results will need to be verified in other cohorts, and further studies are also needed to investigate a larger number of metabolites.
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