Larger Waist Predicts Early Heart Disease in Diabetics

THURSDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Diabetics with larger waists tend to experience coronary artery disease symptoms five years before those with smaller waists, researchers report in the Feb. 1 issue of the American Journal of Cardiology.

Julie St-Pierre, Ph.D., of the University of Montreal in Quebec, Canada, and colleagues evaluated type 2 diabetes, glucose intolerance and coronary artery disease in 1,190 subjects, including men whose waist size exceeded 90 centimeters, or 35.4 inches, and women whose waist exceeded 85 centimeters or 33.5 inches.

The researchers found that 103 men (53 percent) and 122 women (almost 80 percent) with larger waists and triglyceride measurements equal to or exceeding 2 millimoles per liter were glucose intolerant or had type 2 diabetes. Coronary artery disease symptoms developed five years earlier in participants with type 2 diabetes or glucose intolerance and oversized waists compared to those with smaller waists.

"In conclusion, the 'hypertriglyceridemic waist' phenotype, an inexpensive and simple tool identifying subjects with metabolic syndrome features, is a significant marker of coronary artery disease manifestations occurring at an earlier age in those with glucose intolerance or type 2 diabetes," the authors write.

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