Comparative Evaluation of Dyslipedaemia in Obese and Diabetic Patients of Rural and Urban Areas in Lahore, Pakistan.

Objective: Obesity and diabetes mellitus (DM) are interconnected conditions that share a number of pathophysiological mechanisms such as dyslipidaemia leading to cardiovascular complications. The present study was conducted to determine the individual and combined effect of DM and obesity on dyslipidaemia and ultimately on silent coronary artery disease (CAD).

Methods: The patients selected from urban and rural areas of Lahore were recruited on the basis of body mass index (BMI) and fasting blood sugar (FBS) and were classified in four groups: (Group A; obese-diabetic, Group B; non-obese and diabetic, Group C; obese and non-diabetic and Group D; non-obese and non-diabetic). Total lipid profile including total cholesterol, triglycerides, high density lipoproteins and low density lipoproteins were determined along with exercise tolerance test (ETT).

Results: The results indicated that combined obesity and diabetes was the major cause of dyslipidaemia and CAD followed by obesity and diabetes alone. Triglycerides and atherogenic level of HDL-C were more prevalent in obese-diabetic patients (group A) followed by obese (group C) and diabetic (group B) alone. However, low density lipoprotein (LDL) was more significant in obese (group C) but the results were also comparable in all other groups.

Conclusion: The result of ETT revealed that overall group A was more prone towards CAD as compared to group B and group C but there was a non-significant correlation between CAD and obesity/diabetes within all experimental groups. Moreover, the risk of dyslipidaemia and CAD was non-significantly higher in urban population than rural population.