Women With Family History Of Heart Disease, Diabetes Have Higher Risk Of Insulin Resistance

Main Category: Cardiovascular / Cardiology
Also Included In: Diabetes;  Women's Health / Gynecology
Article Date: 02 Oct 2006 - 3:00 PST

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Women who have a family history of heart disease or diabetes, who had diabetes during pregnancy or who gave birth to an infant weighing at least nine pounds are at higher risk of insulin resistance, a type of prediabetes, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports. According to David Katz of the Yale School of Public Health, insulin resistance is a condition in which fat builds up in the liver and other vital organs, inhibiting insulin from injecting enough glucose into the body's cells for energy. As a result, blood pressure, blood sugar and blood fat levels increase -- which often leads to diabetes, heart disease or both -- the AP/Chronicle reports. "We think this is a very important new issue for women," Audrey Sheppard, chief executive of the National Women's Health Resource Center, said, adding, "There's very little awareness." Lalita Kaul, a professor of nutrition at Howard University College of Medicine and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, said that in the past 25 years, about 70% of her patients at risk of diabetes were able to control their blood sugar levels with a healthy diet and lifestyle changes. According to the AP/Chronicle, the NWHRC has begun a public health campaign that targets women ages 40 to 65 and offers tips for maintaining healthy blood sugar levels (Johnson, AP/Houston Chronicle, 9/26).

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