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Overweight children with high levels of
the hormone insulin in their blood are also likely to have high
levels of homocysteine, a substance that appears to raise
the risk of heart disease, stroke, and birth defects, as well as
possibly other adverse effects as well.
In addition, these children and adolescents
appear to have lower levels of folate, a vitamin that can lower
homocysteine levels.
The combination of
elevated homocysteine and reduced folate could put these children
at increased risk for developing heart disease, explain
researchers from the University of Graz in Austria, who studied
the link in 84 children and adolescents.
"The implication of our finding might
be that reduction of cardiovascular risk factors (such as) body
fat and insulin -- by dieting and/or physical activity -- might improve
homocysteine metabolism," Dr. Siegfried Gallistl, the study's
lead author, explained in an interview with Reuters Health. He also
noted that that insulin appears to inhibit enzymes that play a role
in homocysteine metabolism.
Insulin is the hormone responsible for getting
glucose (sugar) in the blood into cells throughout the body to use
as fuel. The cells of people with type 2 diabetes do not respond
adequately to insulin. As a result, levels of both glucose and insulin
in the blood remain high.
"Our study demonstrates
for the first time that insulin is a main correlate of homocysteine
in obese children and adolescents and suggests that (high insulin)
may contribute to impairment of homocysteine metabolism in childhood
obesity," the researchers conclude.
Diabetes Care 2000;23:1348-1352
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