Serum potassium and the racial disparity in diabetes risk: the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Low serum potassium appears to be independently associated with incident type 2 diabetes, and low dietary potassium is more common in African Americans than in whites.

Objective

We hypothesized that low serum potassium contributes to the excess risk of diabetes in African Americans.

Design

We analyzed data collected from 1987 to 1996 from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) Study. At baseline, we identified 2716 African American and 9493 white participants without diabetes. We used multivariate Cox models to estimate the relative hazards (RHs) of incident diabetes related to baseline serum potassium during 9 y of follow-up.

Results

Mean serum potassium concentrations were lower in African Americans than in whites at baseline (4.2 compared

SUBMITTER: Chatterjee R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3076658 | biostudies-literature | 2011 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature