Scientists from Mercy Catholic Medical Center found that young adults diagnosed with prediabetes may be more likely to be hospitalized for heart attacks than their peers with normal blood sugar levels.
The research was presented at the Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions and was conducted by Dr. Akhil Jain et al.
Prediabetes occurs when a person’s blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of Type 2 diabetes.
It is defined as having fasting blood sugar levels between 100 and 125 mg/dL. About 88 million U.S. adults have prediabetes, 29 million of whom are under 45 years old.
In the study, the team analyzed data from 7.8 million heart attack-related hospitalizations for young adults in 2018. All patients were between the ages of 18 and 44.
They found young adults diagnosed with prediabetes had a 1.7 times higher chance of being hospitalized for a heart attack than those whose blood sugar levels were within the normal range.
They also were more likely to have high cholesterol and obesity. Among those with prediabetes, 68.1% had high cholesterol compared to 47.3% of those without.
Among those with prediabetes, 48.9% had obesity compared to 25.7% of those who did not have prediabetes.
However, they did not have a higher incidence of other heart events, such as cardiac arrest or stroke.
The team says if nothing is done to lower or stop blood glucose levels from climbing, prediabetes can progress to Type 2 diabetes.
However, lifestyle changes – such as losing weight and increasing physical activity levels – have been shown to help reverse the condition.
Many of the steps to reverse prediabetes are the same ones that help prevent heart disease.
Future scientific guidelines and health policies need to address cardiovascular disease risks in relation to prediabetes.
If you care about prediabetes, please read studies about what you need to know about prediabetes, and people with diabetes should consider taking this vitamin.
For more information about diabetes, please see recent studies about breads people with diabetes can eat without blood sugar rise, and results showing this is the best fruit for people with diabetes.
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