Re: Can normal weight people get type 2 diabetes?

Matti:
> 
> My question is: Can normal weight people also get type 2 diabetes? Also, did
> anyone here get type 2 diabetes while being normal weight?

The following is a search of Google Groups for "slim diabetics".
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=slim+diabetics&ie=ISO-8859-1&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search

There were a few pertinent threads but no links to studies. I know that
there have been studies perhaps using body mass index (BMI) cutoffs. 

See the subtopics in the following article:
1. Is inefficient fat oxidation a predictor of insulin resistance?
2. The fatty-acid–ß-cell connection.
3. Is there a darker side to the FFA–ß-cell interaction?
Also look at figure 10.
Dysregulation of Fatty Acid Metabolism in the Etiology of Type 2
Diabetes 
http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/51/1/7

"In type 2 diabetics, the fasting plasma insulin concentration
invariably has been found to be normal or increased
(1,4,31,33,34,39,42,48) and basal insulin secretion, measured from
C-peptide kinetics, is elevated (1,3,4,52,53). DeFronzo et al (54)
measured the fasting plasma insulin concentration and performed oral
 glucose tolerance tests in 77 normal-weight type 2 diabetic patients
and over 100 lean subjects with normal or impaired glucose tolerance.
The relationship between the fasting plasma glucose concentration and
the fasting plasma insulin concentration resembles an inverted U or
horseshoe. Because this curve closely
 resembles Starling's curve of the heart, it has been referred to as
Starling's curve of the pancreas (4). As the fasting plasma glucose
concentration rises from 80 to 140 mg/dl, the fasting plasma insulin
concentration increases progressively, peaking at a value that is 2-2.5
fold greater than in normal weight, non-diabetic,
 age-matched controls. The progressive rise in fasting plasma insulin
level can be viewed as an adaptive response of the pancreas to offset
the progressive deterioration in glucose homeostasis. However, when the
fasting plasma glucose concentration exceeds 140 mg/dl, the beta cell is
unable to maintain its elevated
 rate of insulin secretion and the fasting insulin concentration
declines precipitously. This decrease in fasting insulin level has
important physiologic implications, since it is at this point that
hepatic glucose production (the primary determinant of the fasting
plasma glucose concentration) begins to rise (54)." Source:
PATHOGENESIS OF TYPE 2 DIABETES MELLITUS -
http://www.endotext.org/diabetes/diabetes6/diabetes6.htm
Reference 54 above may give some leads but it is not cited at the
tailend. Ralph A. DeFronzo, M.D.

Metabolic defects in lean nondiabetic offspring of NIDDM parents: a
cross-sectional study
http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/46/6/1001

"Except for one study involving lean type 2 diabetic patients (13), no
studies have demonstrated an increased leucine oxidation or net increase
in protein breakdown in people with type 2 diabetes." Reference 13 on
Medline is an abstract that does not elaborate.

"the Kumomoto Study 2/ of lean Type 2 diabetics ..." - This is a clue
for a search.
2 Ohkubo Y et al. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 1995;
28:103-117.

Diabetes journal search function:
http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/search.dtl

"Although an oversimplification, insulin resistance may be viewed as the
primary pathophysiologic defect in over-weight or obese diabetics,
whereas insulin deficiency appears to be the pre-dominant defect in lean
Type 2 diabetics."
http://www.stacommunications.com/journals/pdfs/diagnosis/DXfebruary2003/oralhypoglycemia.pdf

Diabetes journal search for term "lean diabetics".
http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/search?pubdate_year=&volume=&firstpage=&author1=&author2=&title=&andorexacttitle=and&titleabstract=&andorexacttitleabs=and&fulltext=lean+diabetics&andorexactfulltext=and&journalcode=diabetes&fmonth=Sep&fyear=1965&tmonth=Nov&tyear=2003&fdatedef=1+September+1965&tdatedef=1+November+2003&hits=10&sortspec=relevance&sendit=Search

Diabetes journal search for term "offspring".
http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/search?pubdate_year=&volume=&firstpage=&author1=&author2=&title=&andorexacttitle=and&titleabstract=&andorexacttitleabs=and&fulltext=offspring+&andorexactfulltext=and&journalcode=diabetes&fmonth=Sep&fyear=1965&tmonth=Nov&tyear=2003&fdatedef=1+September+1965&tdatedef=1+November+2003&hits=10&sortspec=relevance&sendit=Search

"Visceral fat found inside the abdominal cavity is more dangerous than
subcutaneous fat. It is the fat distribution and not total amount of fat
in the body that has to be used as a health indicator." Source: 
Trimness no guarantee to health 
http://www.hinduonnet.com/seta/2002/09/19/stories/2002091900020200.htm

Skeletal Muscle Insulin Resistance in Normoglycemic Subjects With a
Strong Family History of Type 2 Diabetes Is Associated With Decreased
Insulin-Stimulated Insulin Receptor Substrate-1 Tyrosine Phosphorylation 
http://diabetes.diabetesjournals.org/cgi/content/full/50/11/2572

Google groups search for "lean diabetics"
http://groups.google.com/groups?q=lean+diabetics&ie=ISO-8859-1&hl=en&btnG=Google+Search

Frank