HIGHER PREVALENCE OF DIABETES IN HYPERTENSIVE SUBJECTS WITH UPPER-BODY FAT DISTRIBUTION

Objective. To analyze the association of hypertension and upper body f at distribution on the occurrence of noninsulin-dependent diabetes mel litus in Mexicans. Material and methods. It was a population-based cro ss-sectional study in Cuajimalpa, a district of Mexico City. A total o f 1066 subjects were home interviewed, and attended our clinic for fas ting plasma glucose sampling, blood pressure and anthropometric measur ements. Diabetes was defined according to the World Health Organizatio n criteria, and hypertension as a blood pressure equal to or greater t han 140/90. The ratio of upper to lower body skinfolds was used to est imate body fat distribution. Results. The prevalence of diabetes was 1 2.0%. There was a significant positive trend in the age and sex adjust ed prevalence of diabetes according to the magnitude of hypertension ( p = 0.0006) and upper body fat distribution (p = 0.007). The age and s ex adjusted prevalence in normotensive subjects with lower body fat di stribution was 7.1% (95% confidence interval 5.9-8.2) whereas it was 1 9.9% (CI 17.0-22.8) in those with hypertension and upper body fat dist ribution. The prevalence of diabetes in Mexicans was high and it may b e related to a genetic susceptibility for an insulin resistance syndro me. Conclusions. These results indicate that there is a dose response effect in the association of hypertension and upper body fat distribut ion with diabetes in Mexicans, and that there may be an interaction in the effect of hypertension and body fat distribution in this syndrome .