revalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes in the first-degree relatives of patients with type 2 diabetes - The Tehran Diabetes Prevention Study

 Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease with an epidemic prevalence worldwide. It is known that diabetes mellitus is associated with an increased risk of heart disease and other major health problems. However, recent evidence shows that even pre-diabetic degrees of fasting and postprandial hyperglycemia are also directly linked to the accelerated risks of cardiovascular diseases as well as developing diabetes mellitus in the future.
There is now a general consensus that genetic factors play an important role in being susceptible to type-2 diabetes. Thus, one of the groups highly prone to diabetes and pre-diabetes are relatives of people with diabetes. Considering the fact that identifying risk factors and the predisposition to diabetes in high-risk groups can play an influential role in preventing diabetes and its complications, several studies in the world have been focused on investigating these factors in the relatives of diabetics. However, limited studies have been undertaken in Iran in this regard. Accordingly, researchers from Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Iran University of Medical Sciences designed the current study to determine the prevalence of diabetes and pre-diabetes in the first-degree relatives of patients with type 2 diabetes, as the first step.
This study has been approved by the Human Research Ethics Committee of Iran University of Medical Sciences.