By Jimmy Downs

Saturday Oct 13, 2012 (foodconsumer.org) -- Having a medical condition called polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) can increase risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus, according to a new study in the journal Diabetes.

The study led by Renato Pasquali at St. Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna in Bologna, Italy and colleagues showed that women who had polycystic ovary syndrome were 6.7 times as likely as those in the general population to contract type 2 diabetes.

Polycystic ovary syndrome has already been identified as a risk factor associated with type 2 diabetes.  But the association was derived from cross-sectional observational studies, retrospective studies, or short-term prospective studies.  The current study was a long term prospective study of a large cohort of women with polycystic ovary syndrome.

Of 255 women with Polycystic ovary syndrome, 6 had type 2 diabetes at baseline and 42 developed type 2 diabetes during a  mean follow-up of 16.9 years.  The incidence rate of type 2 diabetes in the patients with polycystic ovary syndrome was 1.05 per 100 person-years.

After adjustment for age, the prevalence of type 2 diabetes in the study subjects was 39.3 percent.  This is compared to 5.8 percent for the general Italian female population at a similar age.

The researchers also found the odds of developing type 2 diabetes was positively associated with body mass index, fasting glucose, and glucose area under the curve at baseline increased and was  inversely associated with sex hormone–binding globulin (SHBG) levels during the follow-up.

The researchers concluded "the risk of type 2 diabetes is markedly elevated in middle-aged women with PCOS and suggests including BMI, glucose, and SHBG-circulating levels in the risk stratification."