Diet, blood sugar, and medication are already something to monitor when one has diabetes. However, what most people do not understand is how diabetes impacts on the heart as well. Actually, when you have diabetes, your chance of getting heart diseases and stroke increases twice as much as the general population.
In this guide, we will be explaining the reasons behind why diabetes and heart disease go hand in hand, what you can do to reduce your risks, and how ultrasound fits into the picture with early detection and continuing care.
When you have diabetes, your blood vessels and your heart are already overworking. The problem is that little by little your arteries and circulatory system are harmed even when you have spent years trying to manage your blood sugar. Why does this occur?
It all depends on how diabetes changes your blood itself and how your body responds. Elevated blood sugar levels, no matter how slightly, with time, harm the walls of your blood vessels.
In diabetes, the arteries begin to develop scratches and cracks that become microscopic and cholesterol and fats stick more easily and accumulate. That is the way plaque develops.
Diabetes can as well reduce your good HDL cholesterol and increase your bad LDL cholesterol. It raises the amounts of toxic fats in your blood known as triglycerides. In a way, diabetes sets the stage of heart disease:
This causes a constricting effect on the arteries (atherosclerosis), a limited blood flow and a risk of heart attacks, strokes and other severe conditions of the heart. Doctors have occasionally referred to this process as silent damage, since it occurs most of the time, and most people feel nothing.
Blood pressure problems are typical of diabetes patients, and even worse when the two conditions are presented at once. With time, high blood pressure strains your heart, thereby increasing the pressure on arteries weakened by high blood sugar levels. This dual pressure wears out the walls of the arteries making them less elastic and easier to collect plaque.
Being overweight, particularly in the stomach area, is not simply an aesthetic problem. It affects the way your body makes use of insulin which is normally associated with insulin resistance. This increases the difficulty of managing blood sugar, raises the blood pressure, and changes cholesterol that predisposes one to heart disease.
A sedentary lifestyle is a quiet but powerful risk factor. When you do not exercise, your body becomes even more resistant to insulin, your blood pressure is more likely to increase, and your weight is more prone to creep up, all of which are detrimental to your heart.
When you are smoking and you happen to have diabetes, the risk of your cardiovascular health will not only be doubled, but, instead, it becomes multiplied. Smoking causes blood vessels to constrict, increases plaque deposits, blood pressure, and decreases oxygen in your blood, all while trying to keep diabetes at bay.
You might think heart problems only get discovered after symptoms appear. However, in individuals with diabetes, it can be dangerous to wait before symptoms appear. By the moment you experience chest pains, shortness of breath or even fatigue, there might already be serious damages done. This is where ultrasound comes in.
So how does the ultrasound contribute to your heart protection? Let us take a closer look.
This basic test is a simple check of two large arteries in your neck, the carotid arteries. The arteries convey blood to your brain. Individuals who have diabetes are also likely to have deposits in these arteries even before they begin to show signs. Doctors using ultrasound can identify narrowing, a blockage or even evidence of atherosclerosis at an early stage.
An echocardiogram is an ultrasound image that displays pictures of your heart beating in real-time. It allows your doctor to measure the size of your heart, fatness of the heart walls, the power of the heart to pump blood and the flow of blood through your heart valves.
Periodic echocardiograms allow the physicians to detect problems in their early stages before the person experiences heart failure or other problems.
Diabetes does not only damage the arteries around your heart or brain. A typical complication, particularly with long term diabetes, is poor blood flow to your legs and feet termed peripheral artery disease (PAD). With the ultrasound level, the doctors are able to assess blood flow through the arteries of your legs; they will investigate any blockages that occur or any narrowing.
These tests will not always be automatically referred to you. Physicians in most of the cases make a decision on your age, symptoms and risk factors history. However, when you have diabetes and are worried about your heart or circulation, inquire whether a vascular ultrasound or echo might be appropriate in your case.
When you’re living with diabetes, it’s easy to feel like there’s too much to manage already. However, safeguarding your heart does not imply earthshaking changes. It is a matter of little, regular steps, which accumulate in themselves and each step is progress.
Here is what you should pay attention to:
1. Control Your Blood Pressure:
Ensure that you maintain a lower blood pressure than the one set by your healthcare provider (usually less than 130/80). When lifestyle measures are not effective, medication can be used. Measuring your blood pressure at home can also tell you more in the long run.
2. Lose Weight:
Excess weight, particularly one that is concentrated around your waistline increases the risk of blood sugar as well as cardiovascular risk. You do not have to lose so much weight in order to see differences. By losing a mere 5-10 percent of the weight you have you can actually lower your risks.
3. Focus on Blood Sugar Stability:
Ask your care team how to ensure your blood sugar levels are as near target as possible. You can use your glucose meter, continuous glucose monitor, or HbA1c results to draw the conclusion whether your plan works. Avoiding big blood sugar swings protects your arteries over time.
4. Move Your Body in Any Way You Can:
Do not view work as punishment. Identify some activities you like such as walking, biking, dancing, swimming or even heavy gardening and strive to exercise on most days of the week. It is not the intensity but consistency.
5. If You Smoke, Prioritize Quitting:
Diabetes and smoking is a recipe for disaster. Quitting can be very daunting, however support groups, nicotine patches and expert assistance can make it something that is possible. As soon as you quit smoking, your heart is on its way towards recovery.
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