Teenagers and young adults with a supposedly ‘healthy’ blood sugar level are found to be at risk of future heart complications. A new study analysed the health of young people from the ‘Children of the 90’s’ cohort from the University of Bristol, finding that 6.2% of 17-year-olds had fasting blood sugars ≥5.6 mmol/L which increased to 26.9% at age 24. While the blood sugar levels don’t reach the 6-6.4% mmol/L to be considered prediabetic, left ventricular hypertrophy was still found to be prevalent among the cohort. Alongside this, hypertrophy was found to be more prevalent in female participants than males due to increased fat mass. The report stated:
‘Persistent hyperglycaemia and increased insulin resistance (IR) were independently associated with the risk of worsening cardiac structural and functional damage in youth, with excess fat mass explaining >60% of the relationship. Hyperglycaemia-induced cardiac alterations may affect female youth worse than male youth. Efforts targeted at preventing and treating adolescent obesity may help disrupt the pathogenesis of IR, young-onset type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular alterations in later life.’
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Researchers attributed the hypertrophy to lifestyle factors such as poor diet and physical activity. Excess fat mass was found to be the main cause of high blood sugar and insulin resistance, contributing to left ventricular growth. Professor Andrew Agbaje, Associate Professor of Clinical Epidemiology and Child Health at the University of Eastern Finland claimed that ‘adolescence is a critical period in the development of cardiometabolic diseases,’ as seen by previous studies with the ‘Children of the 90’s’ cohort, calling for preventative measures to avoid the onset of diabetes.
‘The five-fold increase in the prevalence of prediabetes within 7 years of growth from late adolescence to young adulthood highlights the critical importance of lifestyle,’ Professor Agbaje, senior author of the study added. ‘A healthy balanced diet, regular exercise, and managing conditions like obesity are key to reducing the risk of prediabetes.’
The study ‘Persistent Hyperglycemia and Insulin Resistance with the Risk of Worsening Cardiac Damage in Adolescents: A 7-Year Longitudinal Study of the ALSPAC Birth Cohort’ looked at the ‘Children of the 90’s’ cohort – a multi-generational study by the University of Bristol. The study follows children born in the 1990’s, tracking health data such as obesity, mental health, the effect of air pollution and more to explore how genetics and the environment influence health.