Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
PREDICT DIABETES in Black adults
How a simple tape measure may help
Measuring waist circumference may be an essential way to help predict who will develop diabetes among Black people with normal blood sugar levels, according to a new study. The problem is, researchers say, waist size often is overlooked at health visits.
The study, published in the Journal of the American Heart Association, focused on how to best determine the risk of diabetes in Black populations. The condition causes blood sugar to rise and can damage the eyes, kidneys, nerves or heart.
About 1 in 10 people in the U.S. have diabetes, but the numbers are higher for Black men (14.7%) and Black women (13.4%), American Heart Association statistics show. According to federal data, Black people are twice as likely as their white counterparts to die of diabetes and three times as likely to end up hospitalized for uncontrolled diabetes.
Researchers looked at nearly 4,000 Black adults without diabetes who had their waist circumference and body mass index measured and received different types of blood and imaging tests to assess body fat. Participants had either normal blood sugar levels or prediabetes, a serious condition when blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to qualify as diabetes.
After about five years, the study found a simple A1C blood test was the best marker for predicting future diabetes in those who had prediabetes. The test measures average blood sugar levels over the past three months.
However, for participants with normal blood sugar, the researchers found it was better to measure waist circumference as well as liver fat and visceral adipose tissue, a type of fat that surrounds abdominal organs deep inside your body.
Measuring visceral and liver fat can be complicated and costly, but measuring waist circumference is simple and inexpensive, said Charlotte Rankin, Chief
Administrative Officer and Chief
Nursing Officer for Mercy Hospital Northwest Arkansas. Rankin is also president of the Northwest Arkansas American Heart Association Board of Directors.
“In attempts to reduce the higher rate, having access to healthy food, diabetes education, and exercise are among a few things to battle the continued increase in diabetes in the black population,” said Rankin. “Studies over the past 10 years have shown that simply measuring the waist circumference is an accurate tool. Unfortunately, many physician offices have gotten away from using a tape measure.”
About 55% of Black women and 38% of Black men have obesity, AHA statistics show. Since obesity is a key driver of diabetes, it’s important to maintain a healthy weight, eat a nutritious diet and be physically active.
But making and sustaining those changes isn’t easy, said the study’s lead author, Dr. Joshua J. Joseph, assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus.
“The bigger question is how do you get these individuals into programming that will actually help them improve their waist circumference and improve their life?” Joseph quipped.
Possible solutions, he said, are for doctors to prescribe physical activity courses and training for their patients and encourage them to enroll in nutritious cooking classes and take part in community gardens.
“We also need to address barriers that cut across all racial and ethnic groups. If you don’t have a sidewalk in your community, it’s much tougher to go outside and take a long walk,” he said.
“To make sure everyone can lead longer, healthier lives, we have to work intensively as academic, corporate and government institutions, along with community stakeholders, to really address these social determinants of health.” Serena Munns, Vice President, Strategic Relationships, American Heart Association, SouthWest region.
The American Heart Association and the American Diabetes Association, along with industry leaders, collaborate on the Know Diabetes by Heart™ initiative to reduce cardiovascular deaths, heart attacks and strokes in people living with type 2 diabetes. Mercy Hospital participates in the program, which seeks to comprehensively combat the national public health impact of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease by:
• Raising awareness and understanding of the link between diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
• Positively empowering people to better manage their risk for cardiovascular disease, heart attacks and strokes.
• Supporting health care providers in educating their patients living with type 2 diabetes on cardiovascular risk and increasing their patients’ engagement in prevention of cardiovascular deaths, heart attacks and strokes.
No mater how you size it up, the risks and outcomes can be the same for those susceptible to diabetes and heart disease. The means of diagnosis is up to patient and doctor.