Obesity and its Link to Undiagnosed Diabetes Mellitus and Hypertension in Rural Parts of Western India

BACKGROUND

Obesity and overweight are becoming major health concerns worldwide. Hence, we studied the association between overweight and obesity with new-onset diabetes and hypertension in a selected rural population.

METHODOLOGY

Community health workers made house-to-house visits, inviting adults >20 years of age who were at a higher risk of diabetes, from a predefined rural area of Maharashtra, to visit a mobile diabetes clinic operating in a hub and spoke manner. Sociodemographic data and anthropometric measurements were recorded. BMI and waist circumference was classified according to the WHO recommended cutoffs for Asians. Subjects with capillary blood fasting glucose of ≥126 mg/dL or random glucose of ≥200 mg/dL by glucometer were diagnosed as diabetes and blood pressure of ≥140/90 mmHg by sphygmomanometer were diagnosed as hypertension. Subjects with a known history of diabetes mellitus and hypertension were excluded.

RESULTS

Out of 29,324 total population, 16.5% of subjects were overweight and 26.4% were obese. Mean ± SD of BMI of the participants was 22.9 ± 4.1 kg/m² in males and 22.4 ± 4.2 kg/m² in females. Around 35% of males and 30.5% of females had a high waist circumference of ≥90 cm and ≥80 cm, respectively, 20.5% of subjects had newly diagnosed hypertension, and 11.4% of subjects had newly diagnosed diabetes mellitus. The occurrence of newly diagnosed hypertension and diabetes showed an increasing trend with increasing BMI.

CONCLUSION

Our community-based screening suggested a high prevalence of overweight and obesity in rural India. There was a high prevalence of newly diagnosed hypertension and diabetes in this population.

Genital Infections with Sodium Glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitors: Occurrence and Management in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder characterized by hyperglycemia and is associated with several comorbidities and complications. Genital infection is one such complication that is often associated with diabetes mellitus (DM). Even though abnormalities in immune system, high urine glucose, and bladder dysfunction are important contributors for the increased risk of genitourinary symptoms, yet the possible role of pharmacologically induced glucosuria cannot be completely overlooked in such patients. There are various classes of medications to control blood glucose levels. A new therapeutic option to manage hyperglycemia is to increase renal glucose excretion by inhibiting sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) glucose transport proteins. SGLT2 inhibitors (SGLT2i) represent a novel class of oral antidiabetic drugs which are associated with drug-induced glucosuria. Currently, canagliflozin, dapagliflozin, and empagliflozin are the three SGLT2i approved for therapy in Type 2 DM (T2DM). Safety studies with these three SGLT2i have reported events of mild-moderate genital infections in patients on SGLT2i therapy. However, most of the reported infections responded to standard treatment. Apart from SGLT2i, factors including personal hygiene, menopause, and circumcision might have a possible role in reported events of genital infections among T2DM patients on SGLT2i therapy. The present review identifies the occurrence of genital infections in diabetic patients on SGLT2i therapy, factors affecting the incidence of genital infections, and management strategies in patients with T2DM on SGLT2i therapy.