Blood Glucose Levels in Hospitalized Patients Helps Predict Risk of Type-2 Diabetes

Researchers at the University of Edinburgh have found that the blood glucose levels in adults hospitalized due to acute illness might help predict the risk of developing type-2 diabetes over the next 3 years.

Type-2 diabetes occurs when the body does not produce any insulin at all and is far more common than type-1 diabetes. It was earlier known as adult-onset or noninsulin-dependent diabetes.

In this study, blood glucose levels of 86,634 patients were retrieved on admission. Patients aged 40 years and older were admitted to a hospital in Scotland for acute illness between 2004 and 2008. They identified as to who all developed type-2 diabetes up to December 2011 through the Scottish Care Information-Diabetes Collaboration national surgery.

They noticed that there was a 2.3 percent overall 3-year risk of developing type-2 diabetes. This risk of developing type-2 diabetes increased linearly with rise in blood glucose levels at admission.

For those with blood glucose levels below 5 mmol/l, the 3-year risk of type-2 diabetes was just 1 percent. This risk increased by 15 percent in those with glucose of 15 mmol/l or more.

The researchers then developed a risk calculator based on the analysis. This calculator used the patients' age, sex and blood glucose levels to predict the risk of developing diabetes over 3 years following the hospital admission.

The authors said: "These findings can be used to inform individual patients of their long-term risk of type-2 diabetes and to offer lifestyle advice as appropriate."

The finding was documented in journal PLOS Medicine.