According to a new research, gaining weight, especially around the waist, after the age of 50 can cause diabetes.

As part of the study, Mary L. Biggs, of the University of Washington, Seattle, and fellow workers examined the link between measures of overall body fat, fat distribution, alterations in these measures, and risk of diabetes among
4,193 males and females 65 years of age and older.

Measures of adiposity were determined when study partakers entered the research, and repeated 3 years later.

The incidence of diabetes was ascertained based on use of antidiabetic medication or a fasting blood glucose level of 126 mg/dL or greater.

Over a median follow-up of 12.4 years, 339 new cases of diabetes were diagnosed among the study participants. The researchers found that BMI at baseline, BMI at 50 years of age, weight, fat mass, waist circumference, waist-hip ratio, and waist-height ratio were all strongly related to the risk of diabetes.

The authors said, "For each measure, there was a graded increase in the risk of diabetes with increasing quintiles of adiposity. Participants in the highest category of adiposity had an approximately 2- to 6-fold increased risk of developing diabetes compared with those in the lowest category. We found no evidence of significant statistical interaction by sex or race."

Also, compared with partakers whose weight remained stable over the time period, those who gained 20 lbs. or more between the age of 50 years and study entry had an approximately 3-fold greater risk of developing diabetes during follow-up, regardless of their BMI at 50 years of age.

The study participants who were obese at 50 years of age and who experienced the most weight gain between the age of 50 years and study entry had 5 times the risk of developing diabetes compared with weight-stable participants with normal BMI (less than 25) at 50 years of age.

The scientists also discovered that partakers in the highest categories of both BMI and waist circumference had more than 4 times the risk of those in the lowest category of both measures. Participants with a greater than 4 inch increase in waist size from baseline to the third follow-up visit had a 70 percent higher risk of type 2 diabetes compared with those who gained or lost 0.8 inches or less.

The research has been published in the June 23/30 issue of JAMA. (With Inputs from Agencies)