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Introduction: Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is the most common noncommunicable disease and the fifth leading cause of death worldwide. Recent research has demonstrated that low Vitamin D levels and high Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF) in middle-aged and elderly populations represent a risk factor for Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). Aim: To estimate the Vitamin D and VEGF levels in study subjects with T2DM and healthy controls and to correlate the Vitamin D level and VEGF with HbA1c % in study subjects with T2DM. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken from October 2014 to November 2016 at the Department of Medicine in collaboration with the Department of Biochemistry, Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute, Bangalore. The study included 50 T2DM subjects on oral hypoglycaemic agents for five years and 50 age and sexmatched healthy controls selected randomly from the general population. In all the study subjects, Random Blood Glucose (RBG), LFT, Renal Function Test (RFT), HBA1c, serum Vitamin D, and serum VEGF were estimated. Student t-test and Chisquare/Fisher-Exact test were used to find the significance of study parameters between cases and controls. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was done to assess the risk factors for DM. Results: The mean age of the cases was 50.9±9.7 years and of controls was 49.76±7.7 years. Among the 50 cases, 19 (38%) were men and 31 (62%) were women. Among the 50 controls, 27 (54%) were men and 23 (46%) were women. The mean Body Mass Index (BMI) among cases was 27.21±4.59 and in controls was 24.82±2.63 (p-value=0.0016). The mean serum 25(OH) Vitamin D levels in cases were 11.39±3.32 ng/mL and in controls were 28.06±11.14 ng/mL (p-value <0.001). The mean serum VEGF levels in cases were 97.52±16.96 pg/mL and in controls were 56.37±17.74 pg/mL (p-value <0.001). Conclusion: The present study found that subjects with T2DM have lower serum 25(OH) Vitamin D levels and higher serum VEGF levels than those without T2DM. Serum Vitamin D decreases and serum VEGF-A levels increase with increasing HbA1c%, correlating with vascular complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There are nearly 10.4 crores elderly in India, with 65% of them living in rural areas. Accessibility to healthcare is limited in rural areas. Primary care physicians deal with a fairly large number of patients from the geriatric age group. With the steady increase in the proportion of elderly, there is a corresponding increase in the prevalence of frailty. Frailty among the elderly leads to increased dependency, adverse health outcomes and mortality. Early identification and targeted interventions by primary care physicians could prevent these adverse outcomes and even reverse its occurrence. Knowledge about environmental and lifestyle influences on frailty would further assist primary care physicians to prevent and manage it optimally. Methods: We interviewed 502 participants (>60 years of age) from four taluks of rural Bengaluru. Participants with frailty scores of 3 and above were considered frail, scores of 1-2 were considered prefrail. Association of frailty with lifestyle and environmental factors were tested using the Chi-square test. A value of P < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Prevalence of frailty was 24.70% and prefrailty was 62.75%. Elders in age group 60 to 74 years, those living alone or with others (other than the spouse), illiterate, working elders, elderly with less than two diagnosed comorbidities, elderly with low social score and low physical activity were associated with frailty. Conclusion: The young old population seems vulnerable to frailty. Health programs aimed at prevention, early detection and treatment of morbidities and frailty will improve their health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]