If you are a diabetic, then you should be cautious
of heart diseases. People with diabetes are more prone to heart diseases when
compared to the people without diabetes. Diabetes is one of the major risk
factors for developing heart diseases.
Some statistics shows that about 68 percent of
people with the age of 65 years or older who have diabetes tend to die of heart
disease and about 16 percent of people die due to stroke. Having said that,
diabetes is one of the seven preventable risk factors for developing many heart
diseases, and can be managed with maintaining a proper level of blood glucose
and blood cholesterol.
Heart
disease:
Heart disease refers to a number of conditions which
affects the heart and cause a drastic change in the normal functioning of
heart.
Various
types of heart diseases: Any change in the heart either it
may be a structural change or a functional change leads to various types of
heart disease.
·
High blood pressure (hypertension)
·
Angina
·
Coronary artery disease
(Atherosclerosis)
·
Myocardial infarction (Heart attack)
·
Cardiac arrest
·
Congestive heart failure
Diabetes:
Diabetes mellitus is a cluster of metabolic
conditions which is caused due to the increased amount of glucose in the blood
(blood sugar), which may occur due to the decreased production of insulin or
may be due to the resistance towards insulin.
Types
of Diabetes:
·
Type 1 diabetes also known as insulin
dependent diabetes mellitus
·
Type 2 diabetes also known as non
insulin dependent diabetes mellitus
·
Prediabetes
·
Gestational diabetes
In Type 1 diabetes mellitus, the pancreas produces
only a little amount of insulin or no insulin at all due to the destruction of
beta cells.
In Type 2 diabetes mellitus, there may be a
resistance towards the insulin, leading to reduced intake of glucose by the
cells.
Prediabetes is a reversible diabetic condition which
is caused due to the elevation of glucose levels in blood. It is also called as
borderline diabetes.
Gestational diabetes is a condition due to increased
glucose levels in blood during pregnancy. The condition usually disappears
after the delivery.
Connection
between Diabetes and Heart disease:
In a person with normal blood vessel, the flow of
blood is continuous and smooth due to the presences of nitrous oxide (NO). The
nitrous oxide in blood vessel prevents the cells from sticking to the walls of
blood vessel.
In type 2 diabetes, due to insulin resistance,
the nitrous oxide mechanism gets lost.
In diabetic condition, the high levels of glucose, triglycerides and fatty
acids in blood lead to plaque formation. This formation of plaque is a major
reason for causing coronary artery disease or arthrosclerosis.
Atherosclerosis, causes stiffening of blood vessels,
increasing the force of blood flow on the arterial walls, which leads to
hypertension. Hypertension is a major risk factor for other heart related
diseases like damage of blood vessels, stroke and heart attack.
Tips
for a diabetic patient to avoid heart diseases:
ü Visit
your physician regularly and get your blood glucose level and blood pressure
levels checked.
ü Try
to maintain a normal blood glucose level.
ü Maintain
a normal blood pressure, the blood pressure shouldn’t exceed above 130/80 mmHg.
ü Drinking
alcohol worsens diabetes and also leads to various heart diseases.
ü Say
no to smoking.
ü Have
a diet rich in fibers, it helps in controlling the level of blood glucose.
ü Stay
away from foods high in calories and fats.
ü Don’t
consume sugary foods.
ü Eat
fish instead of red meat.
ü Make
a habit of meditating daily.
ü Have
a walk and perform all kind of physical activities which are good for health.
ü If
you are overweight, try to lose weight and maintain a healthy BMI (Body mass
index).
ü Limit
the intake of salt, and consume it as recommended by your physician.
