The Link Between Diabetes and Heart Disease Explained

Diabetes is a reasonably common condition that causes the patient’s blood sugar level to become too high. Read this article to see the link between diabetes and heart disease explained.

What is Diabetes?

There are three distinct types of diabetes: Type 1, Type 2, and Gestational Diabetes. Type 1 is often diagnosed in childhood, though it can start at any age, and the blood sugar levels become too high because the body can’t make enough insulin.

Type 2 diabetes also means that the blood sugar level is too high, but unlike Type 1, it can often be prevented by eating a healthy diet and avoiding smoking.

Gestational diabetes only affects pregnant women, and is typically reversed after the birth.

Heart Disease

Heart disease refers to a group of cardiovascular diseases that affect the heart. Specifically, heart disease affects the blood vessels that lead to the heart, eventually causing serious medical emergencies such as heart attacks, angina, and strokes.

Alongside the risk of serious medical emergencies like those listed above, heart disease also affects the sufferer’s circulation. In diabetic patients, this can worsen diabetes related symptoms, such as eye problems or circulation to the feet.

What is the Link between Diabetes and Heart Disease?

Next, let’s see the link between diabetes and heart disease explained. Having diabetes, whether Type 1 or Type 2, directly increases the risk of developing coronary heart disease.

The reason for this is that high blood sugar levels over a prolonged period can begin to damage the body’s sensitive blood vessels.

Essentially, the body is unable to use all of the sugar effectively in people whose blood sugar level is high. Since the sugar is not being processed properly, it begins to stick to the red blood cells in the body, and build up in the blood that’s circulating around the body. It is this build-up of sugar that causes the damage to the blood vessels from the inside.

Damaged Blood Vessels

Eventually, the damaged blood vessels become unable, or less able, to ferry the required oxygen to and from the heart that it needs to function well.

Unfortunately, even slightly raised blood sugar levels can put patients at risk of developing heart disease, particularly in situations where the blood sugar levels have been elevated for a long time.

Controlling Diabetes

Diabetes patients will be familiar with something called an HbA1c level. This is the name given to the average blood sugar levels for any given two to three month period.

Ideally, a diabetes patient’s HbA1c level will remain close to 48mmol/mol – also sometimes referred to as sitting around the 6.5% mark.

The closer a patient can be to their advised optimum HbA1c level, the better protected their blood vessels and heart will be.

Cholesterol

It’s also important to be mindful of high cholesterol. People who suffer with diabetes are also more at risk of having high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Both of these conditions can worsen the risk of developing heart disease.

Screening

It’s essential for diabetes patients to have their HbA1c levels, blood pressure and cholesterol measured at least annually. This usually takes the form of a diabetes review with a dedicated diabetes nurse. This gives a good indication as to whether things are being sufficiently well controlled or whether the risk of heart disease is becoming too high.

Self Help Measures to Lower the Risk of Heart Disease

Next, we’ll take a look at some aspects of the diet, as well as some other lifestyle changes, that can make a difference to high cholesterol and to diabetes.

First things first – it’s essential to attend your annual diabetes check up. This checks whether your diabetes is being well managed, or whether there is a need for medication or further lifestyle changes.

Next, it’s really important for diabetes patients to eat a healthy, balanced diet. Not only does this help to control your blood sugar levels, but it also offers additional protection to the heart, making it more robust and less likely to develop heart disease. Your diet should include a minimum of 5 portions of fruit and vegetables each day, as well as wholegrain foods such as bread and oats, and ideally, pulses such as lentils or chickpeas.

On a related note, losing weight will help you to control your diabetes – particularly for those with Type 2 diabetes, which can actually be reversed with a sufficiently healthy diet, quitting smoking and losing weight.

Smoking

One of the best things you can do for your health is to stop smoking. The harmful effects of smoking on the blood vessels, heart and lungs can be amplified in diabetes patients, making it a serious risk to your health.

Medication

For many people with diabetes, especially Type 1 diabetes which is not connected to lifestyle factors, it is necessary to take medication to control your diabetes.

Typically, for Type 1 diabetes, patients are given insulin to manage their blood sugar levels. Patients with Type 2 diabetes, which is unchanged by lifestyle factors, are sometimes offered medication called metformin or an SGLT2 inhibitor, both of which act to lower the blood sugar levels by improving the way they are processed in the body.

Being physically active is also important to help reduce your risk of developing heart disease as a diabetic patient.