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Too much sugar may impact on lifespan
05 Nov 2009
Consuming too much sugar may do more harm than causing obesity and leading to the onset of type-2 diabetes.
This is according to researchers at the University of California, US, who discovered that worms who consumed relatively small amounts of sugar lost 20 per cent of their usual lifespan.
The effect has been traced to insulin signals, which are capable of blocking other life-extending molecular players.
Study author Dr Cynthia Kenyon said that, while the findings are in worms, there are "many similarities" between worms and people in terms of signalling pathways.
"[The discovery] raises the possibility that glucose may have a life-span-shortening effect in humans, and, conversely, that a diet with a low glycemic index may extend human life span," she explained.
Dr Kenyon went on to say that the findings may have implications for treatments currently in development for diabetes, with medications designed to block glycerol channels possibly having a "downside".
Type-2 diabetes is often related to obesity and tends to develop in people aged 40 and over.
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