Insulin resistance, a condition in which the body responds sluggishly to insulin and glucose levels tend to rise, not only bodes ill for the development of full-blown diabetes but also for impending heart disease.

According to a new study, insulin resistance at age 13 years predicts high blood pressure and elevated triglyceride levels in young adulthood, regardless of whether someone is overweight or not.

“This is the first study to show that insulin resistance by itself is a significant predictor of cardiovascular disease, beginning in childhood,” Dr. Alan R. Sinaiko, from the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis, said in a statement.

The findings, reported in the medical journal Hypertension, are based on a study of more than 200 adolescents who had insulin resistance and their body mass index (BMI) measured at ages 13, 15, and 19 years.

The primary aim was to assess the impact of insulin resistance on blood pressure, triglycerides and HDL-cholesterol at 19 years.

The researchers found that the BMI at the start of the study had no bearing on these factors at age 19 years.

On the other hand, the initial insulin resistance at baseline predicted blood pressure and triglycerides levels at 19 years.

“Although strategies to reduce obesity in the population remain highly important,” the team concludes, “reducing levels of insulin resistance, in addition to obesity, may have a beneficial effect on future cardiovascular risk.”

SOURCE: Hypertension, August 21, 2006.