Patients with early-onset T2D (diagnosed before age 45) experience increased burdens of mood, anxiety, and stress-related disorders, according to a study published in Diabetes Care. Furthermore, shared familial liability may exacerbate their co-occurrence. Shengxin Liu and colleagues conducted a population-based cohort study of full siblings, half-siblings, and cousins (N=3,061,192), examining data on diagnoses of T2D and anxiety, mood, and stress-related disorders. To assess the phenotypic link and familial coaggregation between T2D and psychiatric disorders, they used logistic and Cox regression models. To measure the relative contributions of genetic and environmental factors to the link, quantitative genetic modeling was performed in full and maternal half-sibling pairs. Of the total cohort, 7,896 (0.3%) were diagnosed with early onset T2D. These patients had higher risks for
any diagnosis (OR, 3.62 [95% CI, 3.44-3.80]) and specific diagnosis of anxiety (OR, 3.76 [3.54- 3.99]), bipolar disorder (OR, 4.17 [3.68-4.73]), stress-related disorders (OR, 3.35 [3.11-3.61]), and unipolar depression (OR, 3.97 [3.75-4.22]). Relatives of patients with early-onset T2D also had higher overall risks for these psychiatric disorders (OR, 1.03-1.57).
Early-Onset Diabetes Tied to Earlier Menopause
The age at which a woman is diagnosed with diabetes may impact age of natural menopause, according to a study presented at the 2022 North American Menopause Society (NAMS) annual meeting. Vrati M. Mehra and colleagues assessed long-term implications of premenopausal diabetes on women’s reproductive health, including their age at natural menopause. The analysis included 11,436 participants (aged 45-85) who reported a premenopausal diagnosis of T1D, T2D, or gestational diabetes (GD). When adjusting for ethnicity, education, smoking, and premenopausal factors that included gravidity, early age of diagnosis for both T1D (younger than 30; HR, 1.55) and T2D (30- 39; HR, 1.82) was associated with earlier menopause compared with no diagnosis of diabetes. Later age of T2D diagnosis (older than 50) was associated with later age at natural menopause (HR, 0.39). No significant associations were observed between GD and age at natural menopause.
