Cardiovascular health metrics predict diabetes progression in prediabetic young adults

Cardiovascular health (CVH) metrics may help in stratifying the risk of diabetes in young adults with prediabetes, suggests a recent study. Thus, improving CVH metrics may result in a reduced risk of developing diabetes.

The investigators conducted an observational cohort study using the JMDC Claims Database to examine the association between CVH metrics and the annual incidence of diabetes in young adults with prediabetes. A total of 18,908 prediabetic participants aged 18‒44 years, with available fasting plasma glucose (FPG) data for 5 consecutive years, were included in the analysis.

The ideal CVH metrics included nonsmoking, body mass index <25 kg/m², physical activity at goal, optimal dietary habits, blood pressure <120/80 mm Hg, and total cholesterol <200 mg/dL. The investigators examined the association between CVH metrics and the annual incidence of diabetes, as well as that between 1-year changes in CVH metrics and the subsequent risk of diabetes.

Diabetes incidence stood at 3.3 percent at 1 year and 9.5 percent at 5 years after the initial health check-up. An increasing number of nonideal CVH metrics correlated with a higher risk of diabetes, particularly nonideal BMI, smoking, blood pressure, and total cholesterol level. Such association was present both in men and women.

Additionally, “[a] one-point increase in the number of nonideal CVH metric components was associated over 1 year with an increased risk of diabetes,” according to the investigators.