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OBJECTIVE To determine associations of gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) and obesity with adverse pregnancy outcomes in the Hyperglycemia and Adverse Pregnancy Outcome (HAPO) Study. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Participants underwent a 75-g oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) between 24 and 32 weeks. GDM was diagnosed post hoc using International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups criteria. Neonatal anthropometrics and cord serum C-peptide were measured. Adverse pregnancy outcomes included birth weight, newborn percent body fat, and cord C-peptide >90th percentiles, primary cesarean delivery, preeclampsia, and shoulder dystocia/birth injury. BMI was determined at the OGTT. Multiple logistic regression was used to examine associations of GDM and obesity with outcomes. RESULTS Mean maternal BMI was 27.7, 13.7% were obese (BMI ≥33.0 kg/m2), and GDM was diagnosed in 16.1%. Relative to non-GDM and nonobese women, odds ratio for birth weight >90th percentile for GDM alone was 2.19 (1.93–2.47), for obesity alone 1.73 (1.50–2.00), and for both GDM and obesity 3.62 (3.04–4.32). Results for primary cesarean delivery and preeclampsia and for cord C-peptide and newborn percent body fat >90th percentiles were similar. Odds for birth weight >90th percentile were progressively greater with both higher OGTT glucose and higher maternal BMI. There was a 339-g difference in birth weight for babies of obese GDM women, compared with babies of normal/underweight women (64.2% of all women) with normal glucose based on a composite OGTT measure of fasting plasma glucose and 1- and 2-h plasma glucose values (61.8% of all women). CONCLUSIONS Both maternal GDM and obesity are independently associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes. Their combination has a greater impact than either one alone.

The objective of this study was to describe prevalent vascular retinal lesions among patients with type 2 diabetes enrolled in the ADVANCE Retinal Measurements (AdRem) study, a substudy of the Action in Diabetes and Vascular Disease: Preterax and Diamicron MR Controlled Evaluation (ADVANCE) trial.Seven-field stereoscopic photographs of both eyes were obtained at the baseline assessment of the ADVANCE trial. All photographs were graded in a central reading center. Gradable retinal images were received from 1,605 patients.The number of patients with any retinopathy (Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study [ETDRS] scoreor = 20) was 645 (40.2% [95% CI 37.8-42.6]); of these, 35 (2.2% [1.6-3.0]) had severe diabetic retinopathy (ETDRS scoreor = 50). Focal arterial narrowing, venous beading, and arteriovenous nicking were present in 3.8, 5.1, and 9.8% of participants, respectively. Among participants included in this study, Chinese and South-Asian patients had more retinopathy than Caucasians, as defined both by ETDRS score (49.4, 46.0, and 31.3%, respectively; P0.001, adjusted for age, sex, A1C, systolic blood pressure, and duration of diabetes) and specific vascular lesions (e.g., arteriovenous nicking 12.3, 8.5, and 7.5%, respectively; adjusted P0.005). A1C, duration of diabetes, and systolic blood pressure were similarly associated with increased retinal lesions in Chinese, South-Asian, and Caucasian patients.Using a sensitive diagnostic procedure, more than one-third of patients with type 2 diabetes enrolled in the AdRem study had retinal lesions at baseline. Despite differences in prevalence and severity of retinopathy among Chinese, South-Asian, and Caucasian patients included in this study, the cross-sectional associations among established risk factors for retinopathy and retinal lesions were similar across ethnic groups.

In India, diabetes is endemic, linked to urbanization (1), and its dispersed migrant populations show a particular vulnerability (2,3). For example, in Britain, diabetes is more frequent among Indian migrants than in the general population (4,5), but reported rates appear to equal those in India (6), although diverse dietary and cultural habits across India are also likely to have an impact (7). Rates of glucose intolerance seem to be similar between particular Indian communities living in East Africa, and British population studies provide increasing support for a causal role of nonesterified fatty acids (NEFAs) in the etiology of type 2 diabetes (8,9). Here, using a standardized comparison of culturally specific Gujarati communities between India and Britain, we hypothesized that factors associated with disordered NEFA suppression following glucose challenge would confer greater glucose intolerance in these populations. We compared a Gujarati community who had migrated to Sandwell (West Midlands, Britain) from rural villages around Navsari (Gujarat) with age-, sex-, and caste-matched contemporaries still living in those villages in India (as described elsewhere [10]). Randomly sampled participants from electoral rolls were invited to clinic sessions (beginning 8:30–10:00 a.m.). Participants without known diabetes had glucose tolerance testing (GTT) using …

This study was designed to compare the prevalence of obesity, high blood pressure, diabetic vascular disease, and risk factors 1) in Black West Indians who had emigrated to Britain (WIB) with those in Whites in England and 2) among diabetic Jamaicans in Jamaica. Seventy-seven consecutive WIB patients were matched for age, sex, known duration of diabetes, and type of treatment of diabetes with 74 Whites from the same diabetes clinic in England. In Jamaica, a systematic random sample (95 women, 36 men) was studied. There was no difference in age at diagnosis between WIBs and Jamaicans. Effort chest pain (possible angina) was less frequent in WIBs (9%) or Jamaicans (3%) than in Whites (25%). Cigarette smoking was more common in WIBs than in Whites but still low in Jamaicans. Body mass index was greatest in WIB women (85%), significantly more than in matched White (52%) or Jamaican women (45%); 40% of White men and WIB men were obese, significantly more than Jamaicans (15% obese). Systolic blood pressure was similar, but diastolic blood pressure was significantly greater in WIBs than in matched White subjects. The prevalence of casual hypertension was high (>40%) in all groups, often despite treatment. Cataracts were significantly more frequent in WIB and Jamaican groups than in Whites. Total background retinopathy after correcting for duration of diabetes did not differ between groups, and there were no significant differences in other complication rates. Levels of HbA1 were lower in Whites than in the other groups. Regression analysis showed that systolic blood pressure was most consistently related to complications, particularly retinopathy, independent of ethnic group and duration. These results suggest variation in large-vessel rather than small-vessel disease between groups and that high blood pressure and obesity remain the major challenges to management.