Polycystic ovarian syndrome ups risk of type 2 diabetes

(HealthDay) -- Middle-aged women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) are at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, according to a prospective long-term study published online June 14 in Diabetes.

Alessandra Gambineri, M.D., from the University of Bologna in Italy, and colleagues conducted a long-term prospective study of a cohort of 255 women with PCOS, followed from youth to middle age, with a mean follow-up of 16.9 years.

The researchers found that six women had diabetes at baseline, and another 42 women developed diabetes over the study follow-up, yielding an incidence rate for type 2 diabetes of 1.05 per 100 person-years. At the end of follow-up the age-standardized prevalence of diabetes was 39.3 percent, significantly higher than that of the general Italian female population of a similar age (5.8 percent). As body mass index (BMI), fasting glucose, and glucose area under the curve at baseline increased, the risk of developing type 2 diabetes significantly increased. The likelihood of developing diabetes decreased significantly as sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) levels increased.

"This study demonstrates that the risk of type 2 diabetes is markedly elevated in middle-aged women with PCOS and suggests including BMI, glucose, and SHBG-circulating levels in the risk stratification," the authors write.