Teen Hormone Linked To Heart Disease

BOSTON -- An obesity epidemic is threatening our nation's teenagers and as a result, experts fear that there is a new and potentially deadly health risk.

A new study, published in Monday's issue of the journal Circulation, points to overweight teens developing heart disease much earlier than their parents.

Eric is 15, and already 213 pounds. That's about 40 pounds overweight.

"I don't think my eating was out of control at any rate, but I also wasn't taking anything I had really into concern," Eric said.

His doctor's concerned about Eric's diabetes risk.

Eric could be at risk for bigger problems. A new study has found a link between an elevated obesity hormone found in teenagers and early heart disease.

The study found high levels of leptin, a fat cell hormone, circulating in many obese teenagers' blood.

"Elevated leptin levels was associated with a loss of the flexibility of the blood vessel. It wasn't elastic as much -- it didn't stretch as much," Tufts Nutrition School's Dr. Andrew Greenberg said.

A stiffening of the artery leads to early heart disease, Greenberg said.

"Not everyone who's obese will get heart disease, and not everyone who's obese will have this increase in lepton. That's one of the things that medical science is trying to figure out now," Greenberg said.

While scientists sort it out, the solution is simple.

"If we lose weight, we reduce leptin," Newton Wellesley Hospital's Dr. John Cohen said.

Cohen said that starts by simply reading labels.

"Kids and families need to know what they're taking in. They're just taking in a lot of junk," Cohen said.