Simple Blood Test Predicts Heart Disease and Diabetes Risk Years in Advance
A cheap, easy-to-perform measurement called the TyG index—based on triglycerides and blood glucose—can forecast who will develop diabetes, heart attack, stroke, and premature death. The finding, drawn from two large Swedish studies, offers employers, insurers, and health systems a low-cost screening tool to identify high-risk populations before costly disease strikes.
Originaltitel: Triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index is a predictor of arterial stiffness, incidence of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality: A longitudinal two-cohort analysis
<p>Background: Triglyceride-glucose (TyG) index is a useful low-cost marker of insulin resistance. We aimed to evaluate the association between TyG index and arterial stiffness, incidence of diabetes, adverse cardiovascular outcomes, and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in two large prospective Swedish cohorts, the Malmo Diet and Cancer Study-Cardiovascular Cohort (MDCS-CV) and the Malmo Preventive Project (MPP).</p><p>Methods: Association between baseline TyG index and arterial stiffness, measured by carotid femoral pulse wave velocity (c-f PWV), was assessed using linear regression and general linear models, adjusting for covariates. Cox proportional hazard regression was used to assess the association between TyG index and incidence of diabetes, coronary events (CE), stroke, atrial fibrillation (AF), heart failure, and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality.</p><p>Results: After multivariable adjustment, baseline TyG index was significantly associated with increased arterial stiffness (beta for c-f PWV = 0.61, p = 0.018). Participants in the highest quartile of TyG index vs. lowest quartile had an increased incidence of diabetes (HR: 3.30, 95% CI: 2.47-4.41), CE (HR: 1.53, 95% CI: 1.41-1.68), stroke (HR: 1.30, 95% CI: 1.18-1.44), all-cause mortality (HR: 1.22, 95% CI: 1.16-1.28), and cardiovascular mortality (HR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.26-1.49) after adjustment for covariates. Per unit increase in TyG index was associated with increased heart failure risk. No significant association was observed for incident AF.</p><p>Conclusion: Elevated TyG index is positively associated with increased arterial stiffness and increased incidence of diabetes, CE, stroke, and all-cause and cardiovascular mortality. The results suggest that TyG index can potentially be useful in the identification of those at increased long-term risk of adverse health outcomes.</p>