Among newly diagnosed type 2 diabetics who lost weight, weight gain may increase risk of complications: Study

A register-based study from Finland identified three distinct BMI trajectory groups among patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes. In a four-year follow-up, most patients followed a stable trajectory without much weight change. Only 10% of patients lost weight, whereas 3% gained weight. Mean BMI exceeded the threshold of obesity in all groups at baseline. Weight loss is a central treatment goal in type 2 diabetes, but the study shows that few patients succeed in it.

The study was carried out by researchers at the University of Eastern Finland, and the results were published in Clinical Epidemiology.

Patients belonging to each trajectory group were followed up for another eight years for diabetes complications. During the follow-up, 13% of all patients developed microvascular complications, 21% developed macrovascular complications and 20% of patients deceased. The risk of microvascular complications was 2.9 times higher and the risk of macrovascular complications 2.5 times higher among patients with an increasing BMI compared to those with a stable BMI. Micro- and macrovascular complications of diabetes can include, for example, retinopathy, nephropathy and neuropathy, as well as cardiovascular diseases.