(HealthDay)—For patients with type 2 diabetes, poor glycemic control is associated with sarcopenia, according to a study published online May 9 in the Journal of Diabetes Investigation.

Ken Sugimoto, M.D., Ph.D., from Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine in Suita, Japan, and colleagues examined whether glycemic control is associated with sarcopenia in type 2 diabetes. Participants included 746 patients with type 2 diabetes and 2,067 individuals from the general population.

The researchers found that 52 patients with type 2 diabetes were diagnosed with sarcopenia, defined as weak grip strength or slow usual gait speed and low skeletal mass index. There was a linear increase in the frequency of sarcopenia with hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) level, especially in lean individuals (HbA1c <6.5 percent, ≥6.5 to <7.0 percent, ≥7.0 to <8.0 percent, and ≥8.0 percent: 7.0, 18.5, 20.3, and 26.7 percent, respectively). The linear correlation was independent of major covariates, including anthropometric factors and diabetes duration (for HbA1c ≥6.5 and <7.0 and ≥7.0 and <8.0 percent versus <6.5 percent: odds ratios, 4.38 and 4.29, respectively). HbA1c level correlated specifically with low skeletal mass index (HbA1c ≥ 8.0 percent: odds ratio, 5.42) but not weak grip strength or slow gait speed.

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