Blood sugar and muscle loss score is linked to earlier death
Among 5,168 adults tracked for 17.5 years, each standard deviation increase in the score was associated with a hazard ratio of 2.24 for death from any cause.
Independent replication
Limit: The muscle-loss component was a blood-marker ratio, not a direct measure of muscle loss
Edited by Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
In an observational study, researchers analyzed 5,168 adults with stages 0 to 3 cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome tracked for a median of 17.5 years. They evaluated a composite score combining insulin resistance, measured by blood fats and sugar, with a sign of muscle loss based on the ratio of cystatin C to creatinine. Each standard deviation increase in the score was associated with a hazard ratio of 2.24 for death from any cause and 2.50 for cardiovascular death. The combined score generally outperformed its separate components in predicting five- to fifteen-year risk of death. It improved risk reclassification for all-cause death beyond conventional models, but cardiovascular reclassification was not significant. In a validation cohort of 5,125 adults followed through 2020, participants in the highest third of scores had a hazard ratio of 2.90 for death from any cause compared with the lowest third.
Why it matters
Cardiovascular, kidney, and metabolic dysfunctions frequently worsen together during aging, alongside progressive muscle loss. Tracking how metabolic decline interacts with muscle wasting may help identify older adults at the greatest long-term risk of dying before overt organ damage appears.
Caveats
Because the findings come from observational data, they cannot determine whether metabolic resistance and muscle loss cause earlier death. The analysis was also limited to adults in stages 0 to 3 of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome who had complete baseline biomarker measurements, leaving out individuals with stage 4 disease.
- Cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome
- Cystatin C/creatinine ratio
- Estimated pulse wave velocity
- Muscle-loss index
- Triglyceride-glucose index
- Humans
