For newly diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients, it is most important to lose weight honestly and in accordance with the doctor’s instructions. However, after losing weight for a period of time, the weight is down and the body mass index BMI is within the normal range, but the blood sugar is still not well controlled. Is it possible that weight loss does not help blood sugar control? Of course not. Because in addition to general obesity, there is another kind of “obesity”, called abdominal obesity. The typical feature of abdominal obesity is a large stomach, also commonly known as beer belly, their fat is mainly deposited in the abdomen under the skin, as well as the stomach of various internal organs such as the liver, pancreas, gastrointestinal tract and other organs around and inside. So abdominal obesity looks like an apple, also known as apple-shaped body or central obesity, visceral obesity. This part of the people although the stomach is very large, but the limbs are very thin, so the overall view is not fat, but may look very thin, and various weight calculation methods also show as normal weight. Although obese people are more likely to experience abdominal obesity, however, in the population with normal body mass index, there are 14%
of people with a normal BMI will exhibit abdominal obesity. Therefore, a normal body mass index (BMI) does not mean that you are not obese. Abdominal obesity happens to have a significant impact on glycemic control in glucose patients. What is the relationship between abdominal obesity and glycemic control? Abdominal adipose tissue plays a very important role in the progression of type 2 diabetes and its complications. However, there are few data showing its role in the prognosis of diabetes (glycemic control and complications). And recently, a collaboration between Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Ruijin Hospital and others, published on 2016.04.21 in J
An article in Diabetes. journal studied in detail the relationship between waist-to-hip ratio of abdominal obesity and glycemic control and diabetic nephropathy in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes. The study was conducted in 1709 patients with pre-diabetes and newly diagnosed diabetes and embedded in a cohort study of an additional 10,375 participants, aged ≥40 years, in Shanghai. Physical characteristics of these individuals were recorded by questionnaire, anthropometric and biochemical results. The results showed that an increased waist-to-hip ratio significantly increased fasting plasma glucose, glycated hemoglobin, and insulin resistance index. Waist-hip ratio was not directly related to 2-hour postprandial glucose. Also, a higher waist-to-hip ratio significantly increases the risk of proteinuria. However, no significant relationship was found between waist-to-hip ratio and estimated glomerular filtration rate. These data suggest a role for abdominal adipose tissue in glycemic control in type 2 diabetes and an independent risk factor for renal complications. All interventions aimed at reducing abdominal adipose tissue may have additional benefits. So it’s not enough to just lose weight; it’s also better to shrink your belly to improve your diabetes.