Millions of seemingly healthy teenagers are at risk of experiencing fatal heart failure due to a poor diet and lack of physical activity, experts have warned.
Researchers at the University of Eastern Finland found that teenagers with high blood sugar levels were much more likely to develop an enlarged heart.
This health problem, called ventricular hypertrophy, weakens the heart's ability to pump blood efficiently, significantly increasing the risk of fatal cardiac arrest.
Professor Andrew Agbaje from the University of Eastern Finland stated that even teenagers who appear healthy and of normal weight may be at risk.
The team analyzed 1,595 participants aged 17 to 24 from the University of Bristol's long-term Children of the 90s study, which follows the health of thousands of individuals born in the early 1990s.
They measured blood sugar levels to investigate whether increased glucose could cause metabolic changes associated with damage to the heart's structure.
Previous research has shown that high blood sugar during youth is a strong predictor of type 2 diabetes – a condition that doubles the risk of heart attack later in life.
But now, for the first time, there is evidence to suggest that heart damage can begin even before diabetes is diagnosed.
What is more worrying is that the study found that young people with persistent fasting blood sugar levels of 5.6 mmol/L or more – still below the threshold for diagnosing diabetes according to the NHS – were 46% more likely to develop left ventricular hypertrophy.
Although this condition does not cause symptoms at first, it puts stress on the heart and can cause chest pain, difficulty breathing, and irregular heartbeat.
If left untreated, it can lead to dangerous heart rhythms that end in cardiac arrest and sudden death.
Other factors that affect heart health, such as family history of cardiovascular disease, smoking, and physical activity levels, were also taken into account.
Prof. Agbaje said his team's findings "highlight the critical importance of lifestyle, behavior and dietary habits, especially as adolescents begin to be independent from the family."
He added: "The findings further confirm that even adolescents and young adults who appear healthy and of normal weight may be on the path to cardiovascular disease if they have high glucose levels and insulin resistance."
"Surprisingly, we found that high blood sugar can damage girls' hearts five times faster than boys' - so special attention should be paid to girls in terms of prevention."
Type 2 diabetes, once considered a disease of middle-aged and older adults, is becoming increasingly common in young people.
In the UK, around 168,000 people under the age of 40 are currently living with the disease, which also increases the risk of kidney failure, stroke and blindness.
A significant portion of this figure consists of children and young people.
The number of young people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes has increased by 40% between 2016 and 2023. /Express newspaper/
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