Both high and low blood sugar increase risk of CVD and all cause mortality, finds study

Both high and low blood sugar increase the risk of CVD and all-cause mortality finds a study.

Both low (<80 mg/dl) and high (≥126 mg/dl) fasting blood sugar levels significantly increase risk of death from cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality, finds a 20-year-long study published in the journal Chronic Diseases and Translational Medicine.

Most previous studies have established a link between high blood sugar levels and risk of cardiovascular disease morbidity and mortality as well as all-cause mortality. But the association between low blood sugar levels and cardiovascular disease and all-cause mortality is not clear.

Long Zhou, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China, and colleagues explored the relationship between fasting glucose levels and all-cause and cause-specific mortality in the Chinese population.

The study involved 9930 participants from four Chinese general populations who were then followed for 20 years.

Also Read: Reversion from prediabetes to normal blood sugar reduces death and CVD risk by half

Key results of the study include:

• There were 1471 deaths after a median follow-up of 20.2 years (a total of 187,374 person-years), including 310 cardiovascular deaths, 581 cancer deaths, and 580 other-cause deaths.


• After adjustment for age, sex, urban or rural, northern or southern of China, types of work, education level, physical exercise, smoking status, drinking status, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, and serum total cholesterol at baseline, the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for all-cause mortality in the fasting blood glucose categories of <60, 60-69, 70-79, 90-99, 100-109, 110-125, and ≥126 mg/dl were 1.38, 1.20, 1.18, 1.18, 1.48, 1.17, and 2.23, respectively, in contrast to the reference group (80-89 mg/dl).


• The HRs and 95% CIs for cardiovascular disease mortality in these groups were 2.58, 1.41, 1.56, 1.29, 1.36, 1.05, and 2.73 respectively.

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"Both low and high fasting glucose were significantly associated with increased risk of all-cause and cardiovascular mortality in the Chinese general population," write the authors.

"Further studies are needed to clarify the mechanism underlying the association between low fasting glucose and high risk of mortality," they concluded.

To read the complete study follow the link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdtm.2018.08.001