Obesity after 50 more harmful
Weight gain and obesity increase the risk of diabetes in the elderly particularly in an age group falling between 50 and 75 years old, an important study finds.
The research found that generally those in the sample group that were the heaviest were two to six times more likely to get diabetes compared to those who weighed the least, WebMD Health News reported on Wednesday.
In fact, those with a weight problem at the age of 50 who also gained weight of 20 pounds or more before they entered the study were up to five times more likely to develop the illness, compared to those who did not gain weight and were not obese.
The findings were published in the June 23-30 edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The University of Washington lead researcher Mary L. Biggs said, “We already knew it was important to maintain an optimal weight to lower diabetes risk, and this study finds that it remains important into old age.”
Biggs says that the chances of those who had a normal weight before 50 and gained more than 20 pounds before entering the study had a 300-percent higher chance of developing diabetes afterwards, in contrast to those whose weight stayed comparatively stable.
She added that the risk of developing diabetes is four times greater for those with the highest Body Mass Index (BMI) and the biggest waistline.
The study followed 4,193 adults over 65 years old with a median age of 73 for an average of 12.4 years out of which 339 new cases were identified.
Source: presstv.ir
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