Health · Medical Research · 7 hrs ago
Continuous glucose readings may reveal heart risk missed by standard tests
Researchers linked longer periods of high blood sugar with heart risk factors in adults who did not have diabetes or heart disease.
The study included 1,356 adults in the Framingham Heart Study, a long-running project in the United States.
Participants wore glucose sensors for an average of 8.2 days, with readings taken every five minutes.
More time above 140 mg/dL was linked to higher odds of high blood pressure or unhealthy blood fats, even after accounting for fasting blood sugar.
Many people in the higher-sugar groups had passed standard tests, suggesting those tests may miss patterns that sensors detect.
The study found higher predicted heart risk, not proof of more heart attacks, because researchers did not track whether participants later had one.
The findings suggest that continuous glucose readings may add information about heart risk, but the study does not establish that sensor use prevents heart disease.
A week of continuous glucose readings was linked to higher blood pressure, unhealthy blood fats and greater predicted heart risk in adults without diabetes.
The association remained after researchers accounted for fasting blood sugar.
The study included 1,356 Framingham Heart Study participants who had no diabetes or heart disease.
For each increase of about 15 percent in time spent above 140 mg/dL, the odds of high blood pressure or unhealthy blood fats rose by 21 to 26 percent.
The study assessed predicted heart risk, not whether participants later had heart attacks.
- Who
- Researchers led by Bahar Bakhshi at Boston University studied 1,356 adults without diabetes or heart disease.
- What
- The study linked time spent with high blood sugar, measured by continuous sensors, to cardiovascular risk factors and predicted heart disease risk.
- When
- The article was published on 2026-10-18. Participants wore glucose sensors for an average of 8.2 days.
- Where
- Participants came from the Framingham Heart Study. The study was led at Boston University’s Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine.
- Why
- Researchers examined whether continuous glucose readings could reveal patterns and risk associations that standard blood sugar tests may miss.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The Framingham Heart Study began.
Participants fasted overnight, drank a 600-calorie liquid meal and had their blood sugar measured two hours later.
Participants wore sensors that recorded glucose every five minutes.
Earth.com published its report on the study findings.
- Participants
- 1,356 adults without diabetes or heart disease
- Average age
- 59
- Sensor period
- 8.2 days on average, with readings every five minutes
- High glucose threshold
- Above 140 mg/dL (7.8 mmol/L)
- Association with risk factors
- Each roughly 15 percent increase in time above the threshold was linked to 21 to 26 percent higher odds of high blood pressure or unhealthy blood fats
- Predicted heart risk
- Each step in time above the threshold was linked to a 2 percent increase in predicted 10-year risk