Hyperglycemia is associated with relatively lower lean body mass in older adults

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Older adults with known diabetes are vulnerable to accelerated loss of lean body mass. However, the relationship of hyperglycemia per se with lean body mass is not fully understood. We sought to examine the independent relationship of hyperglycemia with relative lean body mass in older persons without a reported history of diabetes.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional nationally representative survey.

SETTING: United States.

PARTICIPANTS: We studied U.S. adults >50 years without known diabetes (n=5434) in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (1999-2004).

MEASUREMENTS: In linear regression models, we studied the relationship of measured HbA1c (

RESULTS: Among older U.S. men and women, progressively higher HbA1c was associated with relatively lower total, appendicular, and trunk percent lean mass, independent of demographics and height (all p

CONCLUSIONS: Hyperglycemia is associated with relatively lower lean mass in a nationally representative population of older adults without history of diabetes. Future longitudinal studies are needed to investigate the relationship of hyperglycemia with the accelerated decline of skeletal muscle mass in older persons.