CAPE TOWN: Are you suffering from Type 1 diabetes? You better watch that weight around your waist. Researchers from the University of Washington, Seattle, have found that adults with Type 1 diabetes who are obese, especially those who carry excess weight around the waist, are at an increased risk of developing kidney disease.

In fact, according to the study that was presented at the recently concluded World Diabetes Congress, for every four-inch increase in waist circumference, the risk of microalbuminuria - small amounts of the protein albumin in urine, the first sign of diabetic kidney disease - increased by 34%. Microalbuminuria is not only an important sign of kidney disease but also a marker of increased risk for cardiovascular disease.

Dr Ian H de Boer from the university's department of nephrology said,"For patients with Type 1 diabetes, obesity is an important risk factor for the development of kidney disease. Our study suggests that lifestyle interventions, such as exercise and diet, will be useful in preventing kidney and heart disease in this group of people." The study will appear in the January 2007 issue of the Journal of American Society of Nephrology.

According to the researchers, the risk of microalbuminuria was significantly higher for patients who were suffering from central obesity fat around the midsection.

The study says,"Weight gain and central obesity are associated with insulin resistance, hypertension and dyslipidemia in Type 1 diabetes. These metabolic abnormalities are risk factors for kidney disease. Whether waist circumference is associated with microalbuminuria was examined among 1,279 participants who had Type 1 diabetes."

"Over 93 of 1,105 participants with normal albumin excretion rate developed microalbuminuria over the 5.8 year period. In conclusion, waist circumference predicts the subsequent development of microalbuminuria in Type 1 diabetes."