Evaluation of Age-adjusted Criteria for Potential Diabetes

Data from Oxford, Massachusetts, indicate that one to two-hour postprandial blood sugar levels rise 4 mg. per 100 ml. per decade. In order to test whether postprandial data used for screening or diagnostic standards should be correspondingly adjusted for age, two criteria, comparable except that one resulted in a sliding scale age-adjustment, were applied to blood sugar levels obtained in Oxford in 1946–1947. The development of diabetes over the next twenty-two years provided no justification for raising these standards for increases in age. These data are considered to provide a pragmatic solution to the rise in glucose levels that occur with age, but are insufficiently precise to resolve its pathophysiologic meaning. The discussion emphasizes that the conclusion reached does not necessarily apply to data obtained following glucose ingestion.