Insulin resistance - a secret killer?

Article Abstract:

A study by Zavaroni et.al. investigated the cause of hyperinsulinemia, an abnormally high level of insulin, the hormone responsible for assisting sugar metabolism. These patients had associated with the hyperinsulinemia high blood pressure, high levels of triglycerides, high blood glucose levels and low levels of high density lipoproteins (HDL) cholesterol. This syndrome has an increased risk of coronary artery disease which may actually be caused by a resistance to insulin. Coronary artery disease may also be caused by the resulting fluid retention and the increased growth of certain smooth muscle cells. The study reveals that this disease may have a genetic component and may have a relationship to diet. In addition, treatment of patients with diabetes mellitus seldom includes the normalization of high blood glucose levels caused by insulin deficiency or insulin resistance, and treatment itself may in turn produce hyperinsulinemia. This effect may be of some concern to physicians treating diabetics.

Complications and side effects, editorial

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Risk factors for coronary artery disease in healthy persons with hyperinsulinemia and normal glucose tolerance

Article Abstract:

Glucose (sugar) metabolism is controlled by the hormone insulin. Factors present in nonobese patients with coronary artery disease and abnormal glucose tolerance include high levels of insulin (hyperinsulinemia), triglycerides and high blood pressure. It is suggested that abnormal insulin metabolism may play a role in coronary artery disease. To study the response of insulin in the blood, two groups (32 patients each) of nondiabetic patients with normal glucose tolerance and normal blood pressure were compared. One group, with hyperinsulinemia, had significantly higher glucose and triglyceride levels, lower high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels, and higher blood pressure than the group with normal insulin levels. Therefore, otherwise healthy patients with high insulin levels or insulin resistance and normal glucose tolerance have an increase in risk factors for coronary heart disease.

Research, Analysis, Evaluation, Measurement, Blood lipids, Blood pressure, Glucose tolerance tests, Glucose tolerance test, Blood cholesterol, Disease susceptibility, Blood pressure measurement

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Hyperinsulinemia as an independent risk factor for ischemic heart disease

Article Abstract:

Men with elevated insulin concentrations may be at risk for developing heart disease over time. The pancreas secrets insulin, an interactive, regulatory hormone in charge of glucose, fat, and protein. Inadequate breakdown of glucose results in diabetes. Extracting from the records of 2,103 French Canadian men collected five years previously, researchers compared the insulin levels of 91 non-diabetic men with heart complications with those of 105 healthy men (the control group). Insulin concentrations were 18% higher in the heart patients than in the control group, regardless of other risk factors. There was a smaller but similar group difference with respect to total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, triglyceride, and apolipoprotein B. It remains unclear which errors in metabolism are responsible for such disease susceptibility, especially in view of independent lipoprotein variations.

Risk factors, Hypercholesterolemia

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