(01-08-12) Obesity Plus Low Vitamin D May Add Up to a Greater Risk of Diabetes

The combination of obesity and vitamin D deficiency may put people at even
greater risk of insulin resistance than either factor alone, according to new
research from the Drexel University School of Public Health recently published
early online in the journal Diabetes Care. Insulin resistance is a major risk
factor for Type 2 diabetes, a condition that affects 25.6 million adults and is
the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.

"Vitamin D insufficiency and obesity are individual risk factors for insulin
resistance and diabetes," said lead author Shaum Kabadi, a doctoral candidate
in epidemiology at Drexel. "Our results suggest that the combination of these
two factors increases the odds of insulin resistance to an even greater degree
than would have been expected based on their individual contributions."

In the study, obese individuals who had healthy levels of vitamin D had
insulin resistance almost 20 times more often than the overall study
population. But in obese individuals whose serum vitamin D was low, insulin
resistance was much higher: about 32 times more common than the average.

Senior author Dr. Longjian Liu, an associate professor in the School of Public
Health, noted, "It's not clear whether obesity itself causes a low vitamin D
level or if it's the other way around."

Vitamin D is stored in adipose fat tissues, making it unavailable for the body
to use; as a result, people who are overweight are already more likely to have
low levels of serum vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency is associated with multiple
health conditions including diabetes, cardiovascular diseases including stroke,
depression, dementia and other conditions.

Kabadi, Liu and co-author Dr. Brian Lee, an assistant professor in the School
of Public Health, analyzed data on serum vitamin D levels and indicators of
insulin resistance and diabetes from 5,806 respondents to a major national
health survey, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES).
This was the first study of the association between vitamin D and diabetes risk
for obese patients using a large, nationally representative sample of adults.
The survey reported data from individuals at a single point in time and was
therefore unable to determine whether there is a cause-and-effect relationship
among vitamin D, obesity and insulin resistance.

Further studies could indicate whether vitamin D supplements are effective at
reducing the risk of insulin resistance and diabetes in obese individuals. If
so, the authors noted that it would be an inexpensive and practical prevention
strategy compared to the difficulty involved in healthy weight loss.

Liu said that vitamin D supplements may be useful for people who are
overweight or obese to help control diabetes, but he cautioned that too much
vitamin D can cause side effects such as weakness and fatigue. In addition,
vitamin D deficiency is just one of many known risk factors associated with
insulin resistance and diabetes. "Therefore, to control diabetes, we need to
have comprehensive prevention strategies. For example, physical activity may be
the most cost-effective way to control weight and subsequently to control
conditions including diabetes and heart disease," Liu said.


Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com

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