What is the link between diabetes and heart disease?

If you are a diabetic, here is why you should care for your heart.

By: Dr Tilak Suvarna | | Updated: February 24, 2015 4:15 pm

If you thought diabetes is a condition that only affects the sugar levels in your body, you are wrong. According to Dr Rajiv Kovil, leading diabetlogist, diabetes is a vascular disease that affects almost all organs and systems in your body. One of the most important thing diabetes tends to affect, is your blood circulation, which increases the risk of heart disease. How, you ask? Well, Dr Tilak Suvarna, Interventional Cardiologist and Head of Cardiology, Asian Heart Institute tells you all you need to know about the relation between heart disease and diabetes and how you can prevent its progression. Also Read - World Heart Day 2020: 8 unusual signs that indicate you may have a heart problem

Also Read - World Heart Day 2020: Take care of your heart, prevent cardiovascular disease

What is the connection between diabetes and heart disease? Why do diabetic patients normally suffer from heart disease? Also Read - World Heart Day 2020: What it takes to live a heart-healthy life?

Diabetes mellitus (also known as type 2 diabetes) is a major risk factor for not only developing heart disease, but also for developing atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) in the major vascular trees (arteries that run through the body) of the body including the brain, kidney, legs, eyes, etc. Diabetics have 2 to 3 times higher risk of developing heart disease as compared to non-diabetics. Diabetes and cardiovascular diseases often appear as the two sides of a coin: on one side, diabetes mellitus has been rated as an equivalent of coronary heart disease, that is if you have diabetes and have never had a heart attack, you are at the same risk for cardiovascular complications as a person with no diabetes but who previously has had a heart attack. And conversely, many patients with a history of coronary heart disease suffer from diabetes.

The reason diabetics suffer from heart disease appear to be multifactorial. The high glucose levels in a diabetic’s blood impairs the ability of the blood vessels to dilate leading to abnormal constriction of the arteries and inflammation of the vessel wall. Also, there is an increased tendency of formation of plaques (deposition along the vessel wall) that destabilises and ruptures, as well as causes abnormal changes in the structure and function of platelets, both of which lead to formation of blood clots, eventually resulting in a heart attack. Further, diabetes induces elevation of triglycerides and LDL (bad) cholesterol, which aggravates the process of atherosclerosis leading to coronary heart disease.

Are there any specific types of heart disease that are common to diabetics?

Diabetes predominantly causes coronary heart disease which is the formation of blocks in the coronary arteries leading to angina or heart attack. Diabetics can also suffer from a type of heart disease known as cardiomyopathy, in which the heart becomes flabby, enlarged and weak, manifesting as heart failure.

How can its progression be stopped?

Progression of heart disease in diabetics can be stopped or slowed down by strict control of one’s blood sugar levels. This is possible by adopting lifestyle changes which include regular physical activity or exercise, strict diet control and weight reduction (if overweight); and taking appropriate medicines for control of diabetes. Hypertension, if present should also be well controlled. Also, it is important for diabetics to be taking medicines which have been shown to prevent the progression of heart disease, these include aspirin and statins which are given to lower the cholesterol levels.

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Published : September 26, 2014 11:52 am | Updated:February 24, 2015 4:15 pm

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