Hyperglycaemia: protect your heart by lowering your blood sugar levels
Is heart health compromised by the high blood sugar levels of diabetes, or by other conditions such as hypertension that can be triggered by diabetes? In short: Which comes first and which matters most. Two studies indicate that hyperglycaemia (high blood sugar) may be more of a culprit in the development of heart disease than previously expected.Getting a little hyper
One of the most recent of those studies comes from Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, in the US. The Hopkins researchers reviewed the results of 13 studies to analyse the association between heart disease in diabetic subjects and the severity of hyperglycaemia (which is measured by the percentage of glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) in blood). Daily fluctuations of blood glucose do not affect HbA1c, so this marker provides a more accurate overall indicator of hyperglycaemia. In a nutshell: An HbA1c level of five percent is considered quite safe, and seven percent or less is considered normal. A level higher than seven is a red flag, signalling the possibility of type 2 diabetes. After reviewing the 13 studies, the Hopkins team concluded that hyperglycaemia may be directly associated with an increased risk of heart disease in people with diabetes. And more specifically, every time HbA1c increases by one percentage point, the risk of heart disease or stroke raises by nearly 20 percent. Likewise, when HbA1c percentage drops, heart disease risk drops as well.The danger zone
UK researchers found that for every HbA1c percentage point that rose above five percent, risk of problems associated with heart disease rose more than 20 percent. And this elevated risk remained consistent, even when other factors such as smoking, high blood pressure and a previous history of heart problems were taken into account. This study produced two striking results:1) Moderate-to-high blood sugar levels were read more
