What you need to know about diabetes and your heart

According to the American Heart Association, adults with diabetes are two to four times more likely to die from heart disease than adults without diabetes. With heart disease being the leading cause of death for men and women, it’s important to understand how diabetes can increase your risk for heart disease.

How diabetes affects on your heart

While diabetes is treatable, a long-term effect of high blood sugar is damaged blood vessels and nerves that control your heart.

Along with high blood sugar, diabetics are also more likely to have other conditions that increase their risk for heart disease such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, high triglycerides and obesity.

Your primary care provider can perform a simple blood test to check your cholesterol and triglycerides.

Heart disease and prevention and treatment

A healthy lifestyle is one of the best ways to prevent your risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Exercise helps lower blood pressure, cholesterol and control your weight. Try to aim for 30-minutes of exercise a day. To reduce your sugar and high-saturated fat consumption, make healthy swaps to add more veggies and complex grains into your diet.

Lower alcohol consumption to prevent fluctuations in your blood sugar levels. The U.S. Dietary Guidelines for American Adults suggest up to one standard drink for women and two drinks for men per day. One standard drink includes approximately 14 grams of pure alcohol, which is 12 ounces of regular beer, 5 ounces of wine or 1.5 ounces of distilled spirits.

Along with preventing your risk for diabetes and heart disease, an overall healthy lifestyle can also help treat and reduce the symptoms of diabetes and heart disease. Make sure you’re eating a balanced diet of fruits, vegetables, protein and whole grains. Your primary care provider is the best person to talk to about treatment plans to get you healthy again.

Resources

Learning more about diabetes and heart health will help you avoid health complications down the line. Consult with your primary care provider, cardiologist or diabetes care specialist to get the support and solutions you need to prevent or manage your health conditions.

To schedule a consultation with one of the highly skilled heart experts at IU Health, call 317.962.0500

Written by Dr. Ali Iqtidar, cardiologist at IU Health North, Saxony and Tipton hospitals