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Biotech / Medical : Ligand (LGND) Breakout! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Joe Wesley who wrote (10233)	10/27/1997 7:06:00 PM
From: Abuckatatime	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 32384

Teens, insulin, and heart disease. A short article bearing this title in Science News, 10/18, describes a study conducted at Univ. of Minn. Med. School, with results presented at a recent Am. Heart Assoc. conference, which suggests that teens with insulin resistance might be at increased risk for heart disease later in life. Although none of the 181 subjects, boys and girls ages 11-14, displayed evidence of heart disease, those with insullin resistance tended to have higher concentrations of triglycerides and lower concentrations of high-density lipoproteins in their blood that did those subjects whose sensitivity to insulin was normal. High levels of triglycerides and low levels of HDL are demonstrated risk factors for cardiovascular disease. I believe we are going to be hearing a lot more about insulin resistance as a risk factor for vascular disease and about the preventive/prophylactic measures for dealing with this condition. I wouldn't be surprised to see guidelines for diagnosis emerging over the next few years. This risk factor, assuming that more extensive research indeed confirms that IR is a risk factor, may prove quite amenable to treatment, via changes in lifestyle (diet and exercise) and by pharmacologic therapy. Insulin sensitizing drugs, like LGND's Targretin and later generation compounds might be indicated not only for treating those people meeting ADA criteria for diabetes but also for those identified earlier in life with impaired glucose tolerance or insulin resistance.