Sugar kills--in more ways than one In this month's issue of my Logical Health Alternatives newsletter, I wrote about a recent Swedish study that discovered a certain chemical in the blood called "high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T"--or troponin for short--can predict heart attack risk with tremendous accuracy. Now there's new evidence that troponin may be especially dangerous for diabetics--and it may be able to predict much more than just heart attack risk. In this new study, researchers at Johns Hopkins looked measured troponin levels in more than 9,300 people enrolled in a long-term heart risk study. None showed any signs of heart disease. But around half of those people had trace amounts of troponin in their bloodstream, which indicates that the heart muscle is suffering damage (even though the damage isn't visible... yet). Here's the kicker: The researchers noted that those with diabetes were more than twice as likely to have elevated levels of troponin than non-diabetics. And people with pre-diabetes were around 30 percent more likely to have levels of troponin in their blood. The reason this finding is so important? Diabetics with elevated troponin levels were six times more likely to develop heart failure and almost four times more likely to develop heart disease, compared to people without diabetes. As I've warned you many times before, diabetes paves the way to many, many other serious health problems. So getting your blood sugar under control with a healthy diet (one like my New Hamptons Health Miracle, that includes plenty of lean protein, healthy fats, and fresh, organic fruits and vegetables) and regular exercise should be your No. 1 priority. Bottom line: sugar kills--in more ways than one. Until next time, Dr. Fred Sources: "Diabetes Mellitus, Prediabetes, and Incidence of Subclinical Myocardial Damage,"Circulation 2014; 130:1,374-1,382 "New look at the diabetes, heart risk relationship." ScienceDaily, 9/10/14 (www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140910120222.htm)