Metabolic disturbances in obesity

Background: Sedentary lifestyle and readily availability of calorie dense foods lead to overweight and obesity, which are considered major health concerns of the modern world. Overweight and obese subjects are at high risk of cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes. Aim of the study: The aim of this study was to assess several parameters of metabolic health in overweight and obese subjects, with focus on early diagnostics of type 2 diabetes. Patients and methods: 102 overweight or obese subjects (28 men and 74 women) were included in the study. Oral glucose tolerance test (oGTT), lipid status, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and blood pressure were measured by standard methods. Glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) was measured by immunoturbidimetric method. Results: 13 men and 26 women were diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Notably, HbA1c was proven as more sensitive than oGTT for early diagnostics of Diabetes mellitus (DM) in this population. Both men and women with DM tended to have higher WC and BMI than nondiabetics, but the difference was not statistically significant. The percentage of hypertensive subjects was higher among diabetics, both men and women, but the difference was also not statistically significant. In addition, overweight/obesity abolished the sex difference of HDL-cholesterol in both diabetics and nondiabetics. Finally, diabetic persons, both men and women, were slightly, but significantly older than nondiabetics, which highlights the importance of maintaining a healthy lifestyle in aging population. Conclusions: Effective strategies for preserving metabolic health of overweight/obese persons are needed, especially in aging population.