Healthy-looking teens ‘may be at risk of heart disease’ due to danger of popular foods and drinks
HEART damage may start in your teens, according to a study that links high blood sugar in youth to heart enlargement by age 24.
An enlarged heart is typically not a medical emergency but can lead to problems later in life.
It may cause an arrhythmia – where the heart beats too fast or too slow – in turn raising the risk of heart failure or cardiac arrest.
Research involving the University of Bristol found that 17-year-olds with high levels of sugar in their blood were up to three times more likely to develop left ventricular hypertrophy.
This is a condition where the heart chamber that pushes oxygen-rich blood out into the body – the left ventricle – is swollen above its normal size.
The risk was 46 per cent higher even for people whose blood sugar was raised but below the UK’s diabetes warning threshold.
Even healthy-looking teens and young adults may be at risk
Professor Andrew Agbaje
Young people’s danger may be increasing because of the rise in processed foods and drinks that are high in sugar.
Senior study author, Professor Andrew Agbaje, from the University of Eastern Finland, said: “Studies indicate that late adolescence is a critical period in the development of cardiometabolic diseases.
“Our current findings confirm that even healthy-looking teens and young adults, who are mostly normal weight, may be at risk of cardiovascular diseases if they have high blood sugar and insulin resistance.
“Surprisingly, we saw that high blood sugar may impact females’ hearts faster than males.”
The research, in the journal Diabetes Care, used data from 1,595 young adults from the Bristol area who have been tracked since birth.
Past studies have also found blood sugar levels in youth can predict whether someone will get type 2 diabetes later in their life.
WHAT IS HIGH BLOOD SUGAR?
SUGAR is released into the blood by digestion and comes from the food you eat.
If you eat healthily, the body produces insulin that helps the body to process the sugar – mainly glucose – and use it for energy to power cells, muscles and organs.
If you eat too much sugar or carbohydrate, the body may be unable to use it all and leave some circulating in the blood.
This is not a problem for short periods but if blood sugar levels are raised over the long-term, they can cause physical damage to the insides of the blood vessels, nerves, eyes and organs.
This may lead to chronic illnesses such as heart disease, sight loss or blindness, numbness in the feet which may result in amputation, and kidney problems.
People with diabetes are most at risk of high blood sugar as their body cannot process it properly.
Symptoms of high blood sugar include:
- Feeling thirsty
- Feeling weak or tired
- Peeing a lot
- Blurry vision
- Weight loss
It can be managed by eating fewer carbohydrates and less sugar, exercising more, losing weight, reducing stress, and taking medication if you are prescribed it.