Children whose father and mother have a long lifespan are less likely to develop diabetes. Their spouses are also at a lower risk of developing this chronic condition, according to recent work.
- 90% of diabetic patients have type 2 diabetes.
- This chronic disease generally appears after the age of 20, but can sometimes occur as early as adolescence, especially in the presence of overweight.
“Little is known about the risk of type 2 diabetes in the offspring of exceptionally long-lived people.” This is the observation made by a team of American scientists. To find out if people, whose family members live longer, and their partner are less or more likely to have diabetes, researchers conducted an study published in the journal Frontiers in Clinical Diabetes and Healthcare April 11.
As part of the research, the authors looked at 583 two-generation families with “healthy aging” and exceptional longevity. Volunteers reside in the United States or Denmark. “Type 2 diabetes was defined as a fasting blood glucose level ≥ 126 mg/dl, or an HbA1c (the percentage of hemoglobin that has bound sugar in the blood) of ≥ 6.5%, or a diagnosis of self-diabetes -reported by a physician, or use of anti-diabetic medications for an average follow-up of one year”, clarified the study.
People whose parents have a long lifespan are less likely to become diabetic
Among the descendants of people with exceptional longevity (1,101 adults) and their spouses (328 people), respectively 3.6% and 3% developed this chronic disease during the study. This corresponds to a rate of 4.6 to 4.7 new cases of type 2 diabetes per 1,000 people per year, about 53% lower than the rate among people aged 45 to 64 in the general population. Being part of a family with exceptional longevity, whether by descent or marriage, is thus an advantage for health and lifespan.
Traits that appeared to protect offspring from developing type 2 diabetes were low BMI, low waist circumference, high levels of HDL cholesterol and the hormones adiponectin and sex hormone-binding globulin in the blood, and low levels of triglycerides.
A lower risk also among their spouses
Similar associations were observed in their spouses. “Our study suggests that the offspring of long-lived people and their spouses, especially middle-aged, share a similar low risk of developing diabetes compared to the general population,” can we read in the works.
According to the scientists, the findings also raise the possibility that different biological risk and protective factors may contribute to diabetes risk in descendants of long-lived people compared to their spouses. “Future studies are needed to identify the mechanisms underlying the low risk of type diabetes in the descendants of individuals with exceptional longevity, as well as in their spouses,” concluded the authors.
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