Skin condition can help identify high-risk for diabetes

Diabetes :: Skin condition can help identify high-risk for diabetes

An easily identifiable dermatologic condition, acanthosis nigricans, is associated with having multiple risk factors for type 2 diabetes, in patients aged 7 to 39 years, finds this study of 1,113 patients.

As the number of type 2 diabetes risk factors increased, so did the prevalence of acanthosis nigricans in both children and adults.

Patients with this dermatologic condition were nearly two times more likely to have type 2 diabetes compared with their counterparts without it.

The researchers suggest that in primary care practices, where competing demands exist within the brief patient encounter, a method for rapidly identifying persons at high risk for type 2 diabetes would be useful for physicians. Acanthosis Nigricans and Diabetes Risk Factors: Prevalence in Young Persons Seen in Southwestern U.S. Primary Care PracticesBy Alberta S. Kong, M.D., M.P.H., et al.