People with diabetes are twice as likely to have heart disease or a stroke than people without diabetes. Learn how to stay heart healthy to reduce your risk.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD), where the heart and blood vessels are negatively impacted, is the number one cause of death in people living with diabetes, resulting in twice as many deaths in people with diabetes than those without.
However, there is good news. With proper exercise, diet, and diabetes management, you can reduce your risk of getting CVD and the complications that come with it.
When you’re in good health, blood vessels are free of restrictions and allow blood pumped from the heart to travel everywhere in your body. And with the blood, oxygen and nutrients flow, too.
Things start to get dicey when blood does not flow properly. In the case of atherosclerosis, blood vessels stiffen and become narrow due to fatty plaque build-up. This lack of blood-flow can leave your heart without enough oxygen, causing coronary heart disease.
And it doesn’t just affect your heart, it can cause problems in any blood vessel in your body. If it happens to the vessels in your legs, it can cause peripheral artery disease, and if in the brain—stroke.
Risk Factors:
This form of CVD occurs when the muscles in the heart become too weak to pump blood properly and your heart becomes unable to supply enough blood to all parts of your body.
Risk Factors:
An irregular heartbeat is caused when structural changes or damage to the heart disrupt the electrical messages that keep the heart beating. At its worst, arrhythmias can cause death via cardiac arrest, through loss of blood flow to the heart.
If you feel any of the following symptoms, call 911 immediately to prevent further damage to your heart, brain, and blood vessels.
The best way to maintain your heart health is to manage your diabetes. Try to keep your blood glucose (blood sugar) in-range for as long and as often as you can. Diet, exercise, taking your insulin and medication as prescribed, attending your doctor visits, and seeking support from medical professionals, family, and friends will all help you get there.
In the meantime, it’s best to frequently check your A1C, LDL, and blood pressure.
Every three to six months, have your A1C checked by your doctor. A1C gives your average blood glucose over the past two to three months. eAG is your A1C reported in the numbers your blood glucose meter shows.
Once a year, have a dilated eye exam to check for eye problems, get a flu shot, and have a complete foot exam.
Every five years, have your cholesterol checked—and check more often if it’s not on target.
With your support, the American Diabetes Association® can continue our lifesaving work to make breakthroughs in research and provide people with the resources they need to fight diabetes.