Prevalence of vascular complications in untreated diabetics with obesity during an 18 year period

Abstract

Prevalence of vascular complications in newly diagnosed untreated diabetic patients with obesity was studied over a period of 18 years. A total of 742 patients including 241 subjects with obesity (BMI > 25) were analyzed. Obese patients showed higher serum cholesterol and triglyceride and lower HDL-cholesterol levels than non-obese patients. Average prevalence of obesity is shown to be 32.5% with higher prevalence in women (37.8%) than in men (28.3%, P < 0.01). No definite change is found in yearly prevalence throughout the observation period. Ischemic ECG findings and hypertension were observed more frequently in obese (35.8% and 34.9%, respectively) than in non-obese (25.2%, P < 0.02; 24.5%, P < 0.01, respectively) subjects, while diabetic retinopathy was less in obese patients (P < 0.05). The prevalence of proteinuria was almost the same in obese and non-obese groups. These results coincide with the general concept that obesity may be responsible for the development of macroangiopathy in diabetes mellitus.