Important link between diabetes and heart diseases, heart attacks, strokes etc!!
Posted on: 18/Oct/2022 6:18:37 PM
How many of us are aware of the fact that diabetes and heart diseases are related closely to each other?
It is true that after the age of 40 every person would be concerned or dealing with issues like diabetes and heart diseases etc or deal with the complications due to these issues. It is worthy to note that diabetes is a chronic health condition that affects how the body would turn food into energy.
Fact is that high blood sugar levels would damage the blood vessels of a person. Blood flow would get affected and could result in heart diseases. The elasticity of the blood vessels would decrease due to blood sugar levels. This could result in the macrovascular disease or damage to large blood vessels or microvascular or damage to small blood vessels. A person could get a heart attack, strokes etc due to macrovascular disease. In the same way, a person could get issues in eyes, kidneys etc due to microvascular disease. Persons who have type-2 diabetes in them would be more prone for heart diseases etc. Ten to twenty percent of the diabetics would get neuropathy.
As per ICMR, diabetes persons must get screened for heart diseases. The person must be screened atleast once in a year for diabetic complications like retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy, peripheral vascular disease or PVD etc.
It was brought out by a research study conducted in 2021 that in persons with type-2 diabetes heart failure manifests as the first cardiovascular event. The study has been published in the diabetology journal named Cardiovascular Diabetology Journal. In the patients with type-2 diabetes, heart failure is witnessed in 30percent patients.
The World Health Organisation or WHO had mentioned diabetes as the potential risk factor for heart failure. It is shocking to mention here that adults with type-2 diabetes have 2 to 3 times increased risk of heart attacks and strokes etc. The nerves present in the feet would get damaged due to reduced flow of blood and this would further lead to foot ulcers, infections and diabetic retinopathy etc.
Persons who are pe-diabetic have 9% to 58% more risk of getting heart diseases etc. It is known that pre-diabetes refers to a condition where the blood sugar levels of a person would be high but not high enough to be classified as diabetes. By the year 2030, more than 470 million people across the world would be pre-diabetic. Type-2 diabetes might be present in 70% of those.
Diabetic patients could reduce the risk of getting heart diseases by regularly checking their blood sugar levels, by taking part in a physical activity, by regularly checking BP and cholesterol levels in them, By eating a healthy diet, by quitting smoking and avoiding alcohol intake etc.
