High Blood Sugar Increases Death Risk for Non-Diabetics, Too. by Jonni Good

It was discovered that for both men and women there is a strong relationship between high average blood sugar levels and cardiovascular disease. In fact, high HbA1c levels appear to be a risk factor for deaths from all causes. The study found that this is true even for people who do not have diabetes.

"Normal" HbA1c levels range from 4% to 6%. Three-fourths of the 521 deaths from all causes among study participants were people with moderately elevated average blood sugar levels between 5% and 6.9%. Those with the lowest rates of heart disease and death had HbA1c levels below 5%.

Every 1% increase in HbA1c increases the risk of death -from any cause - by 28% for women and 24% for men. These risks were independent of other risk factors, including age, body mass index (BMI), systolic blood pressure, cholesterol counts, smoking, or history of heart disease.

How significant are these findings for the average American? With every small increase in the average blood sugar level, even as small an increase as 0.1%, the risk of heart disease goes up. And only about 1/4 of our general population has average blood sugar levels in the safe 5% range. Unfortunately, the tendency is for our blood sugar levels to keep going up, as our obesity rate increases and our activity levels decline.

More studies need to be done, of course. But in the meantime, Dr. Khaw believes that we should all be attempting to control our blood sugar levels with more physical activity and diets rich in fruits and vegetables.

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BIO:

Jonni Good is the author of a self-help book for sugar addiction, and the owner of Stress-Free-Weight-Loss.com, which is filled with articles on natural weight loss.

http://www.stress-free-weight-loss.com

Jonni's blogger can be found at http://www.howtothinkthin.com/blogger.htm

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