For the more than 38 million Americans with diabetes, the diagnosis opens the door to some potentially serious health complications, especially in the area of your cardiovascular health.
One statistic alone should grab your attention — adults with diabetes are nearly twice as likely to develop heart disease and stroke than people without diabetes. Not to mention, people with diabetes are more likely to develop heart disease at an earlier age.
Since November is National Diabetes Month, the experienced team of healthcare professionals here at Advanced Cardiovascular Specialists feels it’s important to highlight the cardiovascular risks that come with diabetes. And, we also want to emphasize that these are risks — risks that we can help you manage and even avoid.
Let’s start with why there’s considerable crossover between certain cardiovascular disease risk factors, namely high blood pressure and high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes. In short, they’re fueled by the same conditions, including:
Since these lifestyle habits are linked to both cardiovascular disease and diabetes, it’s common that people have these conditions together.
And, no matter the order these conditions develop, they all heighten your risk for more serious heart disease.
When you have diabetes, you don’t produce enough insulin and/or you’ve developed insulin resistance. As a consequence, your body has difficulty regulating the levels of glucose in your bloodstream, allowing them to become dangerously high.
These high levels of sugar in your blood can damage blood vessels, as well as the nerves that play functional roles in your heart and blood vessels.
More specifically, the high levels of glucose can lead to damage in the linings of your blood vessels, which makes them more susceptible to plaque buildup, or atherosclerosis.
In turn, atherosclerosis causes your blood vessels to narrow and stiffen, which can compromise your circulation and lead to:
This list is far from complete, but it gives you a better idea about the potentially serious and life-threatening stage that is being set when you have diabetes.
Our point in highlighting the close connection between diabetes and your heart health is to emphasize two things: 1) You need to be more vigilant about your health; and 2) You also need to get the right healthcare teams working with you.
So, we strongly recommend that you work closely with your primary care provider to manage your blood sugar levels through insulin therapies and lifestyle changes. That's the most important step in reducing your risks for complications and further health problems.
Second, you should consider us as part of your overall management team given the close connection between diabetes and your cardiovascular health.
Our team works with many diabetic patients, and we know what to look out for and monitor closely. We can also work with you to lower big risk factors, chiefly high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
To get started on a heart smart diabetes plan, please contact our office in Mountain View, California, to set up a consultation.
