A large new study has found that insulin resistance may raise the risk of developing aortic stenosis (AS), the most common heart valve disease in the world.
The research focused on men over the age of 45 and is believed to be the first to show this connection. The findings were published in the journal Annals of Medicine.
Aortic stenosis is a serious heart condition in which the aortic valve becomes narrowed. This makes it harder for the heart to pump blood to the rest of the body. Over time, the valve becomes thick and stiff, and the heart has to work harder. If left untreated, AS can lead to heart failure and other life-threatening problems.
Symptoms of AS can include chest pain, tiredness, shortness of breath, and a fast heartbeat. Some people may not show any symptoms but can still be at risk. Known risk factors for AS include older age, being male, high blood pressure, smoking, and diabetes.
Insulin resistance happens when the body’s cells stop responding properly to insulin, a hormone that helps control blood sugar. The body then makes more insulin to try to keep blood sugar normal, leading to high levels of insulin in the blood — a condition known as hyperinsulinemia. This can appear years before a person is diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
In this study, researchers looked at health data from over 10,000 Finnish men aged 45 to 73 who were free of AS at the start of the study. They were part of the Metabolic Syndrome in Men (METSIM) Study. The researchers tracked the men for about 11 years and found that 116 of them later developed AS.
At the beginning of the study, several blood markers related to insulin resistance were measured, such as fasting insulin, insulin levels at 30 and 120 minutes after eating, proinsulin, and C-peptide.
The researchers found that higher levels of these markers were linked to an increased risk of developing AS — even after accounting for other factors like body weight, blood pressure, or diabetes.
To confirm their findings, the researchers used advanced data analysis tools and found two distinct patterns showing that insulin resistance is a separate risk factor for AS. These patterns held true even when age, obesity, diabetes, and other risk factors were considered.
“This is an important new discovery,” said lead author Dr. Johanna Kuusisto from Kuopio University Hospital in Finland. “Since insulin resistance is common in many Western countries, improving metabolic health could be a new way to lower the risk of aortic stenosis and improve heart health as people get older.”
Dr. Kuusisto added that more research is needed to find out if improving insulin sensitivity through weight control, regular exercise, and other methods could help prevent AS.
While the study is strong due to its large group size and long follow-up period, the authors note a few limitations. The study only included men, and the number of AS cases was relatively small, which may limit how well the results apply to other populations.
If you care about heart disease, please read studies about a big cause of heart failure, and common blood test could advance heart failure treatment.
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The study is published in Annals of Medicine.
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