
A new biomarker lipoprotein insulin resistance (LPIR) is associated with a 600 percent increase in the risk of premature coronary heart disease (CHD), said researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Mayo Clinic. The findings of the study are published in JAMA Cardiology.
"We're going to see, unfortunately, younger and younger people having heart attacks," said corresponding author Samia Mora, MD, MHS, of the Brigham's Center for Lipid Metabolomics in the Division of Preventive Medicine and an associate professor at Harvard Medical School.
"When a younger individual has a cardiovascular event, it will affect their quality of life going forward, their productivity, and their contribution to society."
Researchers analyzed more than 50 risk factors in 28,024 women who participated in the decades-long Women's Health Study. Commonly used metrics like bad cholesterol and hemoglobin A1C had much weaker associations with CHD onset in women younger than 55 years than LPIR, a newer metric for insulin resistance.
Women under 55 who have obesity had about a fourfold-increased risk for coronary events.
With diabetes prevalence and its associated risk factors increasing dramatically and affecting more women than men, the study emphasizes the urgency of developing effective interventions.
Source: Medindia