The Influence of Diabetes Medications on the Associations Between BMI and Cardiovascular Health Risks

The purpose was to observe the influence of diabetes medications on the association between body mass index (BMI) and cardiovascular health (CVH). Individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES Continuous 1999-2018) were grouped by diabetes medications with similar body weight side effects. There was a positive association between BMI for triglycerides in the combination medications group (P<0.002). Conversely, there were negative associations between BMI for HbA1c in the weight gain medications group (P=0.02), and total cholesterol in the weight loss and weight gain medication groups (P<0.05). Finally, no associations were between BMI in any medication group for fasting glucose, blood pressure or high-density lipoproteins (P>0.05). Therefore, T2D medications may weaken or invert the commonly observed association between obesity and CVH. Thus, patients living with T2D and obesity may have better CVH compared to patients without obesity taking the same T2D medication.