Overweight type 2 patients have decreased mortality, study suggests

A study claims that people with type 2 diabetes who are overweight but not obese may outlive diabetic patients who are underweight or of normal weight.
This 10-year study was conducted by researchers at the University of Hull, who followed 10,586 patients with type 2 diabetes.
The relationship between prognosis of type 2 diabetes without known cardiovascular disease at the beginning of the study and BMI was investigated. However, confounding factors such as smoking, alcohol intake and physical activity were not reported on.
The researchers observed that overweight and obese patients were more likely to be hospitalised for heart problems. They also noted that the overweight group were more likely to survive for longer than those in the other weight groups.
Lead researcher Dr. Pierluigi Costanzo of the academic cardiology unit at Hull York Medical School, explained: “Previous studies have shown conflicting results about this topic. These results are exploratory and hypothesis-generating.
“Living a healthy lifestyle aiming to achieve weight loss should be always pursued as already indicated by guidelines,” Costanzo added.
Obesity is a known factor that increases the risk of type 2 diabetes developing. This risk is further heightened if someone is over 45 and has high blood pressure.
However, the results of the study did not specify whether patients of a normal weight had a longer duration of type 2 diabetes. Additionally, there was no cause-and-effect link between extra weight and longer survival, with only an association acknowledged by researchers.
The results of this study were published in Annals of Internal Medicine.
People with type 2 diabetes that are of a normal weight should not attempt to put on weight in an attempt to become overweight. Firm conclusions cannot be drawn from the study as the findings did not disclose participants’ weight in earlier decades.