High Cholesterol Folks 6x More Likely to Be Insulin Resistant
OK, this is a seriously scary load of fat and sugar. (Photo: VirtualErn) .
It was sundae night at my house.
My parents would set out bowls, ice cream, and an obscene number of toppings, from whipped cream and chocolate sauce to marshmallows and sprinkles. We all chowed down, then lolled about in a vague stupor.
It didn’t happen that often, but it’s not something I ever want to repeat.
My parents are both on medication for high cholesterol, and I just found out from my 23andMe genetic scan that I have an elevated risk of getting diabetes. So I exercise and watch what I eat every day.
But I was surprised by today’s CureTogether research finding. I didn’t expect to learn that high cholesterol and insulin resistance (the first step on the way diabetes) are actually connected.
We found a strong association between the two, which independent studies published in established journals also confirm.
Here’s what we found…
People at CureTogether who report high cholesterol are six times more likely to report insulin resistance than people without high cholesterol. This comes from a study of 636 people sharing data online for the past year.
For details on this finding and how it matches up with other studies, read on…
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Details of the CureTogether High Cholesterol-Insulin Resistance Finding
Among 134 people reporting High Cholesterol in this study, 27 (20.1%) reported also having Insulin Resistance, and the remaining 107 specifically reported not having Insulin Resistance.
Among 502 people reporting “No High Cholesterol” in this study, 16 (3.2%) reported having Insulin Resistance, and the remaining 486 people specifically reported not having Insulin Resistance.
This 20.1% vs. 3.2% difference represents a statistically significant relative risk of 6.3, with a 99% confidence interval of 3.5 – 11.3.
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Other High Cholesterol-Insulin Resistance Research
The importance of this finding is that using only self-reported data, we have found an association between high cholesterol and insulin resistance that has previously been explored only in clinical studies such as the following:
(Credit: D Sharon Pruitt)
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1. Researchers in Taiwan found a genetic marker that is associated with both high cholesterol and insulin resistance – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18581044
2. A study of 72 men showed higher cholesterol in the more insulin-resistant segment, and the researchers suggest a mechanism for the link between insulin resistance and cholesterol metabolism – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14657199
3. Another study found that low intestinal absorption and high synthesis of cholesterol characterizes men with high normal blood glucose, with a hypothesis about the metabolic interrelation between insulin and cholesterol – http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8635649
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Self-Reported Data at CureTogether
CureTogether has been called “Yelp for health.” It is a collaboration of people from around the world volunteering to solve real problems in chronic conditions.
People self-report and rate symptoms and treatments for over 410 conditions. The top conditions at CureTogether are depression, anxiety, migraine, back pain, and vulvodynia.
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Take a peek at the top-rated:
- Insulin Resistance Treatments
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December 11th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
A low-carbohydrate diet, which is necessarily a high-fat (saturated is best) diet, is what is called for to avoid (or treat) diabetes. Statin drugs should be avoided by everyone, parents or not. Go #primal and reap the benefits.