WEDNESDAY, July 10, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Maintaining several years of nondiabetes status after impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) diagnosis is associated with a significantly lower risk for poor long-term outcomes, according to a study published online July 9 in PLOS Medicine.

Xin Qian, from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College in Beijing, and colleagues examined the association between years of nondiabetes status after diagnosis of IGT and the risk for long-term death and cardiovascular outcomes. The analysis included 540 individuals with IGT participating in the original Da Qing Diabetes Prevention Study who either maintained nondiabetes status or progressed to diabetes at the end of two, four, or six years after diagnosis of IGT.

The researchers found that the difference in the cumulative incidence rate of the outcomes between the diabetes and nondiabetes groups gradually increased over 30 years. There was a significantly lower risk for all-cause death (hazard ratio [HR], 0.74), cardiovascular events (HR, 0.63), and microvascular complications (HR, 0.62) observed in individuals who maintained nondiabetes status at the four-year visit compared with the diabetes group. A significant risk reduction in cardiovascular death was first seen at the end of six years (HR, 0.56), when adjusting for age, sex, smoking status, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, blood glucose, total cholesterol, intervention, and medications (including insulin plus oral hypoglycemics, antihypertensives, and lipid-lowering agents).

“The implementation of effective interventions targeting those with IGT should be considered as part of preventative management for diabetes and diabetes-related vascular complications,” the authors write.

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