Age as Independent Determinant of Glucose Tolerance

Abstract

It has been proposed that the decline in glucose tolerance with age is not a primary aging effect but is secondary to a combination of other age-associated characteristics, i.e., disease, medication, obesity, central and upper-body fat deposition, and inactivity. To test this hypothesis, we first eliminated from analysis the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging participants with identifiable diseases or medications known to influence glucose tolerance. Seven hundred forty-three men and women, aged 17-92 yr, remained for analysis. As indices of fatness, body mass index and percent body fat were determined. As indices of body fat distribution, waist-hip ratio and subscapular triceps skin-fold ratio were calculated. As indices of fitness, physical activity level, determined by detailed questionnaire, and maximum 02 consumption were calculated. We tested whether the effect of age on glucose tolerance remains when data were adjusted for fatness, fitness, and fat distribution; 2-h glucose values were 6.61, 6.78, and 7.83 mM for young (17-39 yr), middle-aged (40-59 yr), and old (60-92 yr) men and 6.22, 6.22, and 7.28 mM for the three groups of women, respectively. The differences between the young and middle-aged groups were not significant, but the old groups had significantly higher values than young or middle-aged groups. Fatness, fitness, and fat distribution can account for the decline in glucose tolerance from the young adult to the middle-aged years. However, age remains a significant determinant of the further decline in glucose tolerance of healthy old subjects.

Association of renal function with clinical parameters and conditions in a longitudinal population-based epidemiological study

“…Glucose intolerance in the elderly may be due to impaired insulin secretion, increased insulin resistance or changes in the endocrine system, obesity, physical inactivity, reduced dietary carbohydrate, impaired renal function or administration of certain therapeutic agents (32,33). The age associated increases in fasting blood glucose level and blood hemoglobin A1c content observed in the present study are consistent with previous observations (34).…”

Age and Glucose Intolerance

“…The conclusion by Shimokata et al (6) that loss of glucose tolerance occurs primarily after the age of 60 is consistent with the findings from several studies showing that insulin-mediated glucose disposal is also decreased in these individuals (10 -12). However, Rosenthal et al (12) pointed out that this change was far from uniform and that the variance in insulin-mediated glucose disposal was twice as great in older compared with younger individuals.…”

The prevalence and risk factors for age-related macular degeneration in rural–urban India, Sankara Nethralaya Rural–Urban Age-related Macular degeneration study, Report No. 1

“…The NHANES II study demonstrated a progressive increase of about 0.4 mM/decade of life in mean plasma glucose value two hours after a 75 g oral glucose tolerance test (n=1678 men and 1892 women) (179). Shimokata et al (180) examined glucose tolerance in community-dwelling men and women ranging between age 17 and 92. By assessing fitness and obesity levels, patterns of body-fat distribution and activity in an attempt to examine the independent effect of age on glucose tolerance, investigators found no significant differences between the young and middle-aged groups.…”