Summary: Researchers have created a new test called triglyceride glucose index (TyG), which is reliable for predicting peripheral arterial disease risk. This index is calculated using fasting blood glucose and triglyceride levels, making it a highly accessible test.
In the US, metabolic disorders are common, and they are now the leading cause of death. The metabolic disorder leads to an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, kidney failure, and even cancer.
The reason why metabolic disorders are so common is the rising obesity rates. Above one-third of adults in the US are obese, and another 40% are overweight. That means that barely one-third of adults have normal body weights.
Consequently, diabetes is also on the rise. In urban areas, more than 10% of adults are already living with diabetes, and another one-third have prediabetes, which means that insulin resistance is also widespread.
These are some of the reasons why, despite improvements in healthcare and breakthroughs in medicine, cardiovascular diseases are still the leading cause of death in the nation.
There are two ways to lower your risk of premature death and cardiovascular diseases those are lifestyle changes and regular screening. Fortunately, awareness about health risks posed by metabolic disorders is rising nationwide. This means that people with or without metabolic disorders are regularly screened.
There are many tests that help identify the risk of premature death and determine the risk of heart attack, peripheral arterial disease (PAD), and other issues. Among various tests, the most common and reliable tests are the fasting blood glucose test (FBG) and lipid profile (LP).
These two tests are common and pretty standard, and most adults living with metabolic disorders must undergo these tests at regular intervals, perhaps every three months, at least if they have diabetes or are severely obese. Those mildly overweight or even with normal body weight must still get tested for FBG and LP every six months or annually. This helps understand health status and identify the risk of cardiovascular diseases in a timely manner, enabling timely interventions.
Chronic pain specialists understand that as people age, they need to undergo an increasing number of various screening or diagnostic tests. Hence, they are constantly exploring simpler ways to predict the risk of different health conditions. Consequently, they have developed a very simple test called triglyceride glucose index (TyG).
The good thing about this index is that you do not need to undergo additional tests apart from FBG and LP. This index is calculated using special mathematical formulas.
Studies now show that calculating the TyG index may be one of the most reliable ways of understanding insulin resistance and predicting the risk of heart attack and stroke. For example, one of the new studies shows that if TyG is above 9.04, it means a higher risk of cardiovascular ailments like heart attack and stroke.
These days, metabolic disorders like diabetes are also the leading cause of peripheral arterial disease (PAD). PAD significantly increases the risk of heart attack, stroke, amputations, kidney failure, poorly healing ulcers on the legs, and more. Hence, understanding PAD risk may help prevent a range of health issues.
One of the new studies, a systemic review pooling data from 22 studies compromising 73,168 cases, shows that the TyG index may be a simple and highly useful way of understanding PAD risk. It was found that there was almost a 76% increase in PAD risk if the TyG index was elevated. It also found that a 1-unit increase in TyG increased PAD risk by almost 60%.
The study found that those with the highest values of TyG (from the data analyzed) had almost twice the probability of PAD compared to healthy adults.
One can understand that the good thing about the TyG index is its simplicity. Since most people living with metabolic disorders are tested for fasting blood glucose and triglycerides, calculating this index does not require additional testing; it only requires some calculation. So, finding the TyG of a patient is pretty simple, yet it is an effective way of estimating the risk of PAD. Many healthcare facilities including interventional pain management in St. Louis are using this tool to enhance their preventive care.
Source:
Araújo, S. P., Juvanhol, L. L., Bressan, J., & Hermsdorff, H. H. M. (2022). Triglyceride glucose index: A new biomarker in predicting cardiovascular risk. Preventive Medicine Reports, 29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pmedr.2022.101941
