Initial research recently showed that young adults who have higher than normal blood sugar levels signaling prediabetes were more likely to be hospitalized for heart attack compared to their counterparts who have normal blood sugar levels.
As indicated in a EurekAlert! report, the study was presented late last week at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions 2022 in Reston, Virginia.
It highlighted the most recent study focused on the quality of cardiovascular medical care and patient outcomes in certain conditions' treatment and prevention such as heart disease and stroke.
Essentially, having prediabetes means that a person's blood sugar levels are higher compared to normal, with fasting blood sugar from 100 to 125 mg/dL, although not high enough to be considered Type 2 diabetes.
Prediabetes
A similar Medical Xpress report specified that prediabetes is a common condition. More so it increases the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, as well.
The National Institutes of Health reported that approximately "88 million adults in the United States, aged 18 years old and above, have prediabetes, which is more than a third of the American adults. Almost 29 million adults who have prediabetes are aged between 18 and 44 years old.
According to resident physician Akhil Jain, MD, from the Mercy Catholic Medical Center in Darby, Pa., if left untreated prediabetes can substantially affect health and can develop into Type 2 diabetes, which is known to increase the risk if a person for cardiovascular disease.
Jain, the study author also said that with heart attacks occurring increasingly in young adults, this research was focused on "defining the risk factors pertinent to this young population," so that scientific guidelines, in the future, as well as health policies, may better be able to deal with cardiovascular disease risks in connection to prediabetes.
Prediabetes and Heart Attack
Out of over 7.8 million young adults admitted at the hospital for heart attack in 2018, over 31 million, or 0.4 percent had high blood sugar levels linked to prediabetes.
Among the people who have prediabetes, the occurrence of heart attack was 2.15 percent compared to 0.3 percent in young adults who have normal blood sugar levels.
Meanwhile, adults who have prediabetes were found to be more likely than their counterparts who don't have prediabetes, to have high cholesterol levels specifically 68.1 percent and 47.3 percent respectively, and obesity with 48.9 percent and 25.7 percent respectively.
Adults who have prediabetes who were hospitalized due to heart attack were more likely to have higher household incomes, to be admitted to urban teaching hospitals, or to be hospitalized in the West and Midwest regions of the US, compared to adults who have heart attacks without prediabetes.
Prevention Initiative
While prediabetes is a forerunner to type 2 diabetes, as well as other serious health complications, "it can be reversed," a similar News-Medical.net report said. Many steps taken for the prevention of prediabetes are the same steps for preventing heart disease.
Eduardo Sanchez, MD, MPH, FAHA, FAAFP explained that when blood sugar levels are meeting the criteria for prediabetes, such a wake-up call to take action.
Sanchez, the American Heart Association's chief medical officer for prevention and the lead for the Association's Know Diabetes by Heart initiative also said that it is essential for people who have prediabetes to know that lifestyle change is "key to improving their glucose levels and general health," and potentially reversing prediabetes and preventing type 2 diabetes."
Related information about prediabetes and cardiovascular disease is shown on The BMJ's YouTube video below:
Check out more news and information on Diabetes and Heart Health in Science Times.
