There are numerous links between diabetes and heart disease
The toe bone might be connected to the foot bone and the foot bone to the ankle bone, and so on, but it’s not just your body’s bones that are connected.
Many body systems are connected, and some diseases or conditions can be factors in other diseases and conditions. Diabetes and heart disease are two examples.
Can a disease affecting blood sugar affect your blood vessels and heart? Absolutely, and in more ways than one.
About 34 million people in the U.S. have diabetes and 20 percent of them don’t know it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). About 88 million adults are on the cusp of developing diabetes (called prediabetes) and more than 80 percent of them don’t know it.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the U.S. The American Heart Association predicts more than 130 million Americans will have some type of heart disease by 2030, just nine years from now.
That’s a lot of potential health trouble.
Diabetes can significantly increase your risk for heart disease, and high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes are closely linked. Diabetes promotes the development of plaque in your arteries. That’s the substance that clings to the wall of your arteries and restricts or blocks blood flow, increasing the risk for things such as heart attack and stroke.
Diabetes also can lead to blood vessel damage in the eyes, kidneys and nerves. Conditions like heart failure can lead to diabetes.
LVHN.org provides great information on diabetes and heart disease.
The news isn’t all bad. There are a lot of tools at your disposal to reduce your risk. Things like regular exercise, weight loss and a healthy diet can help reduce both diabetes and heart disease risk.
There are more medications now to help control both coronary disease and heart failure. Coronary heart disease risk among U.S. adults has improved significantly over the past decade.
“There is such a close connection between diabetes and cardiovascular disease that the new diabetes medications released have had to show cardiovascular benefit in order to be produced,” says Daniel Makowski, DO, LVPG Cardiology–1250 Cedar Crest. “This highlights the multi-level understanding and commitment to the relationship between diabetes and the cardiovascular system.”
Be sure to see your primary care doctor and take your prescribed medications.