Older women with Type 2 diabetes who take a daily soy supplement show an improvement in their cholesterol and insulin levels, a new study has found.

A preliminary study by British researchers shows that although the women took the supplements for only 12 weeks, the risk of cardiovascular disease in post-menopausal women was reduced.

Important to find alternative to HRT
Recent studies showing that the long-term risk of hormone replacement therapy outweigh the heart benefits have offered disappointing results for women, particularly diabetics who are up to four times more likely to die of heart disease.

This has made it more important to focus on alternative methods of reducing the heart risk for these women.

Dramatic cholesterol lowering
Study lead author Vijay Jayagopal and fellow researchers at Hull Royal Infirmary in Hull, UK, investigated whether soy protein and isoflavones affected blood sugar, insulin and other heart disease markers.

The researchers gave 32 postmenopausal Type 2 diabetic women either a soy supplement or placebo for 12 weeks.

After two weeks, the researchers switched treatments for another 12 weeks.

Women who took the soy supplement showed an eight percent reduction in fasting insulin and an improvement in long-term blood sugar control.

Consistently high levels of insulin, the body's key blood sugar-regulating hormone, raise the risk of both heart disease and worsen the effect of diabetes.

The researchers speculate that these results were probably caused by the lowering of cholesterol – total cholesterol fell by four percent while levels of LDL cholesterol fell by seven percent after 12 weeks.

Reporting in the October issue of Diabetes Care, the researchers say it is too soon to make any recommendations, since it is not clear how much soy is needed to provide cardiovascular protection and in what form it is most effective.

The dose of isoflavones given to the women was much greater than amounts typically consumed, even in countries where soya is a staple food.

However, the researchers are optimistic, saying that the study findings provide an encouraging first step in answering some of the questions and providing hope for many postmenopausal women who are at risk of cardiovascular disease. – (Health24)