(MENAFN- Muscat Daily) A large number of Omani adults with no family history of diabetes face a high risk of developing the disease due to environmental factors and endogamy a new study has revealed. Researchers also warn that the condition could reach epidemic proportions in the sultanate.
The study results of which have been published in the Oman Medical Journal estimates the prevalence of impaired fasting glucose (IFG) among Omani adults and the factors – excluding family history - behind the risk of developing type 2 diabetes (T2D).
IFG is a condition in which fasting blood glucose levels in the body are higher than normal.
Conducted by Sultan Qaboos University Hospital (SQUH) researchers the study interviewed 1182 Omanis aged 40 years and above. Of these only 191 had no personal or family history of diabetes but 42 from these 191 had IFG and significantly higher body mass index (BMI) fasting insulin haemoglobin and blood pressure.
'The high prevalence of obesity combined with genetically susceptible individuals is a warning that diabetes could reach epidemic proportions in Oman' said researchers.
Obesity parameters are strongly associated with IFG risk with waist circumference being the strongest predictor.
The SQUH study further revealed that one in nine adults in the Middle East and North Africa is a diabetic and more than half of them are unaware of their condition.
'In addition 6.7 per cent of the population in this region has impaired glucose tolerance; this number is expected to double by 2030' said a researcher. Impaired glucose tolerance is also referred to as pre-diabetes a condition where the blood sugar levels are higher than the normal range but not that high for the condition to be diabetes.
Most studies carried out in the past point to the high risk the Omani population faces from diabetes.
The SQUH study quotes an earlier research according to which 51 per cent of Omani adults and 75 per cent of isolated IFG individuals are either overweight or obese.
Omani women had a bigger waist circumference than men which also increased impaired fasting glucose prevalence among them.
Even those Omanis with no family history of diabetes had a high IFG prevalence suggesting that changes in diet and lifestyle may be the primary causes of the condition.
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