Myongji Hospital said that Professor Lee Min-kyung of the Department of Endocrinology was recently awarded the Young Excellent Award at the 55th Annual Scientific Meeting of the Japan Atherosclerosis Society, held from July 8-9.

Professor Lee received the award after presenting her study, titled “Cumulative exposure to metabolic syndrome in a national population-based cohort of young adults and sex-specific risk for type 2 diabetes.”

The study used National Health Insurance Service data to determine whether cumulative exposure to metabolic syndrome is associated with type 2 diabetes risk in young adults aged 20 to 39.

After analyzing four years of data, Professor Lee confirmed that the risk of diabetes was increased up to 3.72 times compared to the general population if a person had metabolic syndrome for four consecutive years.

“Hypertriglyceridemia, defined as a fasting triglyceride level of 150 mg/dL or higher, can be lowered through weight loss, diet, and physical activity,” Lee said. “Lifestyle interventions such as exercise and alcohol abstinence are important to prevent hypertriglyceridemia from persisting to prevent diabetes, which is on the rise in young adults.”

The research results were published on Diabetology & Metabolic Syndrome.