High Glucose Could Impair Connective Tissue in Heart and Lungs.

When elastin, the protein that helps organs like the heart and lungs expand and contract, is exposed to sugar, it can slow or stop the ferroelectric switch that helps build and support connective tissue. Elastin is the source for ferroelectricity, an electrical property that occurs when a molecule switches from having a positive charge to a negative charge. Sugar's effect on elastin can result in hardening of tissues, according to a study in the journalPhysical Review Letters. The process is similar to glycation, which occurs in the development of diabetes and in aging.