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Metabolic Memory

Meaning

Metabolic memory is a critical clinical phenomenon primarily documented in individuals with diabetes, describing the persistence of adverse vascular and cellular damage even after a period of poor blood glucose control has been successfully corrected. The initial period of hyperglycemia leaves a lasting, detrimental epigenetic imprint on endothelial and other cells, sustaining inflammatory and oxidative stress pathways. This concept underscores the long-term, compounding consequences of prior metabolic dysregulation on the progression of systemic microvascular complications.