Metabolic index linked primarily to lower breathing impairment
Compared with the low, steady index group, moderately rising and high, steady groups had lower lung-problem odds: odds ratios of 0.80 and 0.75, respectively.
Paper by Jiang Rongbin, Zhan Weijie, Zou Peng et al.
Our read
Populations- Studied:
- Accepted, not yet published: cohort study of 2,414 middle-aged and older Chinese adults, against low-stable TyG-BMI group (Independent replication)
- What changed:
- Chronic respiratory disease odds were lower with high-stable versus low-stable index levels (OR=0.75), mainly reflecting breathing-test impairment
- The catch:
- The combined disease outcome mixed breathing-test impairment with self-reported disease showing the opposite association
- In the record:
- The 38th paper on triglyceride-glucose body mass index with results in people; 68 on record in all.
Editor of record: Boris Djordjevic · AgingResearch.News
An observational cohort study followed 2,414 Chinese adults, averaging 59.3 years old, during 2011–2018. Researchers tracked an index combining blood fats, blood sugar and body mass index, a measure of weight relative to height. They grouped participants by how the index changed over time.
Overall, 867 participants (35.9%) developed chronic respiratory disease, defined by self-reported chronic lung disease or asthma, or low or declining peak expiratory flow—a measure of how fast someone can blow air out. Both the moderately rising and high, steady index groups had lower odds than the low, steady group. Higher cumulative index levels were also linked to lower odds. This inverse association mainly involved breathing-test impairment; self-reported disease showed the opposite trend. An independent hospital-based cohort of 397 people with fractures also showed an inverse association.
Why it matters
Insulin resistance, when the body responds less well to insulin, is a risk factor for chronic respiratory disease. The study addresses how an indirect measure of insulin resistance relates to respiratory health in middle and later life.
Caveats
This observational study cannot establish cause and effect, and its combined outcome included measures that showed different associations. The findings concern middle-aged and older Chinese adults, with external validation in people with fractures.
- Chronic respiratory disease
- Chronic lung disease
- Asthma
- Peak expiratory flow
- Respiratory impairment
- Humans
The paper
Jiang Rongbin, Zhan Weijie, Zou Peng et al.
Frontiers in Medicine, Oct 31, 2026, CC BY, Accepted, not yet published
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