Controlling blood sugar levels is only part of the picture when you have diabetes. One major worry is the connection between diabetes and cardiovascular disease. If you have been managing both diabetes and heart disease, you’re in good company. These two diseases tend to exist together, raising the chances for stroke, heart attack, and other significant events.
But knowing the risks can help—and of course, something can also be done. Especially with collaboration from a well-known cardiac hospital in Abu Dhabi, managing dual diagnosis becomes simpler.
What Is The Relationship Between Diabetes And Cardiovascular Disease?
Chronic conditions like diabetes increase the risk of heart disease. When we think about cardiovascular issues, we know that diabetics are almost 2 times more likely to have cardiovascular issues than someone without diabetes. This risk builds up every day with raised blood sugars that damage blood vessels and nerves that control the heart.
Diabetes mellitus and coronary vascular diseases share common perilous associations like obesity, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure, but also co-morbidly through how diabetes directly impacts blood vessel health.
Additionally, it intertwines further along into lifestyle components as well as genetic predispositions driving heart problems, intertwined with diabetes, too, making this relationship between diabetes and heart disease more elaborate.
How Does Diabetes Affect the Heart and Blood Vessels?
Here is how elevated blood glucose harms your cardiovascular system:
- It can damage the lining of blood vessels, making it easier for fatty deposits to build up.
- Blood vessel injury increases inflammation. This contributes to the stiffening and narrowing of the arteries.
- Cholesterol level disruption occurs with less “good” HDL and more “bad” LDL.
- It leads to high blood pressure, which puts strain on the heart.
When these factors work together, the risk of developing atherosclerosis, heart failure, and peripheral artery disease is significantly increased. For this reason, consistent management becomes critical for those living with diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Is Diabetes a Cardiovascular Disease or a Risk Factor?
Is diabetes a cardiovascular disease? Not really, but it is one of the biggest risk factors. Just think of it as a ‘trigger’ that accelerates the onset of cardiovascular problems. High glucose levels are like gasoline on the fire that further exacerbates pre-existing conditions and hastens damage.
In fact, many cardiologists define diabetes as a “cardiovascular equivalent” in that there is a risk in someone who carries the diagnosis comparable to someone who has had a heart attack. This is why heart disease and diabetes are always assessed together during regular checkups at any leading cardiac hospital in Abu Dhabi.
Main Reasons Why Heart Disease and Diabetes Often Occur Together
If you are searching online, ‘which is the main reason for diabetes and heart disease?’ Heart disease and diabetes don’t just happen together by chance; there are a number of important reasons why they are commonly found in the same patient:
Chronic high blood sugar-related inflammation.
- Obesity and physical inactivity are involved in both states.
- High blood pressure is actually a common feature of diabetes.
- Insulin resistance is closely related to poor heart health.
- Unhealthy cholesterol levels are quite common with type 2 diabetes.
Each of these common accelerators helps explain why diabetes and heart disease often start to appear as side-by-side conditions. When you treat one issue but ignore the other, you don’t often get lasting results.
Can Diabetes Cause a Heart Attack? Signs and Emergency Response
Undoubtedly, diabetes mellitus poses a risk for heart attacks. People with diabetes face even greater risk because they may experience “silent” heart attacks, or those without noticeable symptoms or warning signals such as.
- Sudden loss of energy
- Shortness of breath during simple activities
- Chest discomfort, which can include pressure (not limited to pain)
- Dizziness accompanied by sweating
- Nausea
If you experience any of these symptoms, seek immediate treatment at one of the cardiac hospitals in Abu Dhabi. You should never delay seeking treatment! Remember that every second counts when muscles are involved.
Early Symptoms of Cardiovascular Disease in Diabetics
Prevention and management of atherosclerotic plaque buildup in the arteries should be prioritized for diabetics. The rest of this section outlines their early indicators.
- A leg or ankle swelling
- Feeling tightness in your chest, with or without your heart pounding
- Unusual tiredness when undertaking supportive physical activities like walking up stairs
- Excessive daily weariness
- Always feeling dizzy, lightheaded, or fainting sporadically
These early signs may feel unimportant, but indeed are indicators. Given that heart discomfort might not register for diabetic patients as acute pain, it is vital to take even seemingly minor measures. Diabetics need to have regular screenings even if all appears fine at first glance.
Risk Factors That Connect Diabetes and Heart Disease
Diabetes and CVD share several common risk factors:
- Your age (especially above 45)
- Tobacco usage
- Lack of physical activity/exercise
- Excess body weight, specifically in the waist area.
- Family history of heart disease/metabolic disorder/diabetes
- Nutritional habits – diet high in sugar, saturated fat, and processed foods, low in nutrients.
Each of these contributes to the escalating risk. In combination with all these, diabetes and cardiovascular diseases can lead to severe complications.
How to Reduce Your Risk of Heart Disease If You Have Diabetes
To improve how safely one lives with diabetes, certain steps need to be taken, both big and small. Here are some steps to take to safeguard your heart while living with diabetes:
- Eat high in vegetables, maintain fiber intake, and include healthy fats, lean proteins, and some helpful chicken bones.
- Exercising for at least half an hour on at least 5 days will be significantly useful.
- Avoid secondhand smoke and quit smoking altogether.
- Maintain a positive attitude while avoiding excess pressure so your blood and sugar tend to stay stable.
- As directed, take your anti-diabetes medications alongside those used for treating hypotension and hypercholesterolemia.
These modifications can directly aid in lowering the chances of diabetes and CVD, along with any vascular diseases that result from it.
Screening Procedures and Monitoring for Individuals Living with Diabetes
Preventive care activities consist of the following:
- Checking blood pressure and cholesterol levels at least once a year.
- Patients who are high risk or symptomatic should receive ECG or stress testing as appropriate.
- Assessment of kidney function is important because renal and cardiovascular diseases share common risk factors.
- Regular eye screening for vascular sequelae and foot assessment for ophthalmic changes.
Proactive management can be lifesaving. This is especially true for those living with diabetes and heart disease—routine evaluations are essential even after symptom stabilization.
Heart and Diabetes Care at Al Hosn Medical Centre in Abu Dhabi
At Al Hosn Medical Center, we offer integrated multidisciplinary care to patients diagnosed with cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Our team includes physicians who clinically evaluate and manage your complications if you are in an advanced stage or newly diagnosed. We ensure every patient receives optimal treatment tailored to their needs throughout the continuum of their condition.
We offer complex diabetes and cardiac cases advanced diagnostic tools along with individualized treatment plans, which makes us one of the trusted experts in diabetes care hospitals in Abu Dhabi, known for compassionate service.
Conclusion
While the link between diabetes and cardiovascular disease may be serious, it is not unavoidable. With education, early detection, and prevention, you can live a healthy life. The first step is to know how diabetes affects your heart, and the next step is to do something about it.
If you need assistance managing symptoms or if you want to prevent long-term diabetes complications, getting help from a reputable cardiac hospital in Abu Dhabi can change your life. Do not wait to ensure that symptoms worsen – begin caring for your heart!
