HEALTH NEWS

Sugar Added to Food Linked to Heart Disease Risk, Cholesterol

By Nicole Ostrow, BusinessWeek

Eating sugar and other sweeteners added to packaged foods may add to heart-disease risk by changing cho- lesterol levels and increasing blood fats, an Emory University study said.

Those who consumed food with higher levels of sugar showed a risk ranging from 50 percent to 300 percent higher of reduced levels of the good cholesterol that protects against heart disease, according to the research. Higher sugar intake also increased triglycerides, the blood fats that raise heart disease risk, said Jean Welsh, lead author of the research released in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The research is one of the first large studies to show added sugar changes cholesterol levels, which are risk factors for heart disease, Welsh said. U.S. consump- tion of sugar averages about 16 percent of daily calo- ries from food, equivalent to about 21 teaspoons of sugar and more than double the amount recom- mended by the American Heart Association. Chubby Toddlers Have Increased Risk of Heart Disease, Diabetes

By Rosemary Black, NY Daily News

Chubby toddlers look adorable, but as grownups they may have an increased chance of developing heart disease and diabetes.

Chronic disorders like these may germinate much ear- lier in life than was previously believed, according to research reported on MSNBC.com, and obesity may be a factor. The markers for cardiovascular disease have been noted in kids as young as three, according to the site, and kids has young as seven already have the warning signs of Type 2 diabetes.

An increase in the number of overweight youngsters and a decrease in their level of exercise may be the reasons why signs of chronic diseases are showing up in kids.

Newer Blood Test Predicts Diabetes, Heart Dis- ease

By Serena Gordon, US News & World Report

A1C outperforms fasting glucose in predicting heart disease and stroke risk, study finds. The newer hemo- globin A1C test predicts diabetes as well as the traditional fasting blood sugar test, but it beats that old standard in predicting a patient’s future risk of heart disease and stroke, new research shows.

After adjusting for common cardiovascular disease risk factors, the study found that while A1C levels high enough to diagnose diabetes were associated with nearly twice the risk of coronary heart disease, no such association was found with fasting glucose readings high enough to trigger a diabetes diagnosis.