Heart Disease-Glucose Connection Studied

A UCLA study suggests men with cardiovascular disease might be at increased risk for death even when their blood sugar level remains in the normal range.

The study involved a statistical analysis of the connection between glucose levels and death in patients with cardiovascular disease. Currently, physicians consider a glucose level of 100 or less to be normal, 101-126 to be impaired and above 126 to be diabetic.

Our findings suggest that for men with cardiovascular disease, there is apparently no ‘normal’ blood sugar level, said Sidney Port, UCLA professor emeritus of mathematics and statistics, and lead author of the study. For these men, across the normal range, the lower their blood sugar, the better.

However, contrary to conventional belief, above 100 (mg/dl), the risk does not seem to change — it stays at the same high level — no matter how high above the normal range, Port said. The men’s death rate at 100 and 150 is the same.

The study appears in the Feb. 15 issue of the American Journal of Epidemiology.