Pre-diabetes, a condition in which blood sugar levels are occasionally abnormal, is associated with a number of metabolic changes that can promote heart disease and stroke, according to a report in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Compared with healthy subjects, those with pre-diabetes had greater levels of inflammation throughout the body, as indicated by certain proteins in the blood, and had high levels of LDL, the “bad” cholesterol. High blood sugar levels, inflammation, and abnormal cholesterol levels have all been linked to heart disease and stroke risk.

Pre-diabetes is a common condition in older adults in which high blood sugar levels are only apparent during testing with a special sugar-containing drink. Patients with the condition often go on to develop diabetes, in which blood sugar levels are abnormal all the time.

With sugar drink testing, pre-diabetics have sugar levels of at least 140 milligrams/decaliter, but less than 200 milligrams/decaliter. People with normal findings and those with diabetes fall below and above this range, respectively.

Prior research has linked pre-diabetes with increased risks of heart disease and stroke, but the metabolic changes responsible for these effects were unclear, lead author Dr. Jill P. Crandall and colleagues, from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, note.

For their study, the researchers recruited 58 subjects, 65 and older, who had blood sugar levels measured after consuming a standard sugar drink. Twenty-eight subjects had pre-diabetes and 30 had normal findings.

Routine blood sugar testing of older adults might help identify individuals with pre-diabetes, but whether reducing the high sugar levels will cut their risk of heart disease and stroke remains to be studied, the authors conclude.

SOURCE: Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, February 10th online, 2009.