Glucose monitoring reveals early signs of heart and metabolic risks in healthy adults

Research at Boston University suggests that continuous glucose patterns may offer new insights into cardiometabolic health in individuals without diabetes, although further validation is needed before clinical adoption.

Researchers at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine have found that glucose patterns captured by continuous glucose monitoring may carry clues about cardiovascular and metabolic health in adults who do not have diabetes, although the technology is not yet ready to be treated as a stand-alone risk test. Their analysis, published in Diabetes Care, drew on data from about 1,300 Framingham Heart Study participants who had neither diabetes nor cardiovascular disease.

The study linked higher average glucose levels and more time spent above 140 milligrams per decilitre with a greater likelihood of high blood pressure, along with differences in cholesterol measures. The team also examined how much glucose levels rose and fell over time, rather than relying only on standard tests such as fasting plasma glucose and haemoglobin A1c, which provide only a partial picture of blood sugar regulation.

Bahar Bakhshi, the study’s lead author, said the findings fit into a small but growing body of research suggesting that glucose monitoring may help identify cardiometabolic risk earlier than conventional measures alone. Nicole Spartano, the corresponding author, argued that tracking glucose patterns over time could help researchers detect intermittent dysglycaemia, the medical term for abnormal blood sugar regulation, and better understand why some people drift towards diabetes or heart disease. The authors stressed, however, that their analysis was cross-sectional, meaning it can show associations at a single point in time but cannot prove that glucose patterns cause later disease.

That caution matters because other experts have warned that continuous glucose monitors are still unproven for people without diabetes. A commentary in JAMA Internal Medicine said there is no good evidence that CGM improves health or prevents diabetes in this group, while Harvard Health has said there is no solid evidence of benefit for healthy users. Healthline has also noted the risk of people overreacting to short-term readings and adopting unnecessary dietary restrictions, and the University of Gothenburg has reported that a review found no scientific evidence that these devices improve health or prevent disease in people without diabetes. Taken together, the new findings suggest promise, but not yet a clinical role broad enough to justify routine use outside research or carefully selected cases.