Blood Sugar Affects Heart Disease Risk

Even slightly elevated blood sugar levels can increase heart attack risk, researchers found, suggesting that blood sugar may be just as important a heart disease risk factor as cholesterol is.

They also stressed that not only diabetics’ hearts are affected by high blood sugar.

"It is surprising that even a slightly higher blood glucose value appears to be dangerous over a longer period - and that sugar alone makes a negative difference."

Researchers analyzed data from 80,522 participants in three population-based studies.  They found that raising blood sugar by as little as 18 milligrams above normal (less than 108 milligrams of glucose per liter of blood) over the course of many years increased heart attack risk by 69%.  

-Michael Potts