Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disease in Diabetic Patients
Inside the human body, the various systems that keep a person alive are interdependent on each other to carry out their functions. But quite often, we witness situations that cause the failure or shortcoming of one of these organs, causing the other to fail as well. This concept sits at the very core of Diabetes, a condition in which the body’s ability to maintain glucose levels (or blood sugar levels) fails.
Diabetes is caused when the body cannot make enough insulin or does not make optimal use of available insulin, a hormone that turns glucose into usable energy for the cells of the human body. As dangerous as diabetes may seem for the body, it opens the doors of a patient’s body to something much worse; cardiovascular diseases.
Are Diabetes and Cardiovascular Diseases Related?
Yes, Diabetes and Cardiovascular Diseases are related in more profound ways. Heart diseases are caused by narrowing or blockage of blood vessels in essential regions of the heart and chest cavity. If it gets delayed, it leads to heart attacks, chest pains, and strokes. With blood glucose levels rising due to diabetes, the damage to blood vessels and nerves goes into hyperdrive. The longer a person has had diabetes, the chances of developing cardiovascular diseases increase rapidly.
Consider these stats from around the world:
● 68% of diabetic patients above the age of 65 die because of some form of heart disease, out of which, about 16% die of stroke.
● Diabetic adults are 200% to 400% more likely to contract heart diseases than non-diabetic adults.
● A premier world organization for cardiac health considers diabetes as one of the top 7 causes or factors of Cardiovascular diseases.
Why People With Diabetes Have Higher Risk of Heart Diseases?
Diabetes is a condition that can significantly affect the overall health of a person's heart and circulatory system if it’s in full swing. Even though it can be controlled to the limit that it can become almost dormant, however, its very nature is quite dangerous for other vital organs of our body. Excessive blood sugar levels in type 2 diabetes accelerate the damage to the heart in the following way.
● High Blood Pressure: High blood pressure (hypertension) and diabetes, collaboratively, provide severe damage to the heart. This is simply because hypertension puts abnormally high pressure on the walls of the blood vessels, and diabetes works to damage the walls of the vessels.
● Bad Lipid Profile: Diabetes instantly causes the level of bad cholesterol (LDL), and triglycerides shoot up, while the good cholesterol (HDL) levels take a sudden dip. These conditions perfectly replicate the early symptoms of heart diseases.
● Obesity: Insulin resistance has a strong link to obesity in humans, which in turn also is one of the major contributing factors in the development of heart diseases.
● Sedentary Lifestyle: One of the major risk factors for both diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, is physical inactivity. With proper and timely exercising, a person can reduce the chances, delay, and even prevent conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, and heart attacks.
● Abnormal (High) Blood Sugar Levels: Diabetes increases blood sugar level to dangerous levels, which in turn, harm the heart and kidneys to irreparable extents.
● Smoking: Smoking, in general, is a risk factor for the human body, especially to diabetic patients. It makes our body resistant to insulin, leading to higher blood sugar level. Such dangerous sugar level in our body warrants extreme problems for many organs, including the heart.
How to Stop Diabetes From Giving You a Heart Attack?
The simplest way is to manage the ABCSs in a person.
● A for A1C test: the A1C test shows the average blood sugar levels over the last 3 months, which is a different measure than the daily sugar level checks. The goal is to keep this level below 7 percent.
● B for Blood Pressure: A high blood pressure makes the person’s heart work harder to keep the blood pumping, which can harm a lot of other organs, alongside the blood vessels.
● C for Cholesterol: Reducing bad cholesterol levels and getting more good cholesterol in the system will keep the blood vessels healthy.
● S for Stress and Smoking: Smoking and Stress are the two biggest risk and contributing factors in taking a person’s diabetes to cardiovascular disease levels.
Diabetes is definitely a condition that can escalate even the simplest of problems to catastrophic levels. That is why, for even the simplest of symptoms, make sure that you take care of your cardiac health by visiting the best heart specialist hospital in Jodhpur, Medipulse. With the team of expert doctors always monitoring the situations, Medipulse is where you can get the best care for your heart. Visit now for a consultation and to secure your heart better.