Having diabetes or
pre-diabetes puts you at increased risk for heart disease and stroke.
What is diabetes?
Diabetes is a disorder of
metabolism-the way our bodies use digested food for energy. Most of the food we
eat is broken down into glucose, the form of sugar in the blood. Glucose is the
body's main source of fuel.
After digestion, glucose
enters the bloodstream. Then glucose goes to cells throughout the body where it
is used for energy. However, a hormone called insulin must be present to allow
glucose to enter the cells. Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas, a
large gland behind the stomach.
In people who do not have
diabetes, the pancreas automatically produces the right amount of insulin to
move glucose from blood into the cells. However, diabetes develops when the
pancreas does not make enough insulin, or the cells in the muscles, liver, and
fat do not use insulin properly, or both. As a result, the amount of glucose in
the blood increases while the cells are starved of energy.
Over time, high blood glucose
levels damage nerves and blood vessels, leading to complications such as heart
disease and stroke, the leading causes of death among people with diabetes.
Uncontrolled diabetes can eventually lead to other health problems as well,
such as vision loss, kidney failure, and amputations.
What is the connection between diabetes, heart disease, and stroke?
If you have diabetes, you are
at least twice as likely as someone who does not have diabetes to have heart
disease or a stroke. People with diabetes also tend to develop heart disease or
have strokes at an earlier age than other people. If you are middle-aged and
have type 2 diabetes, some studies suggest that your chance of having a heart
attack is as high as someone without diabetes who has already had one heart
attack. Women who have not gone through menopause usually have less risk of
heart disease than men of the same age. But women of all ages with diabetes
have an increased risk of heart disease because diabetes cancels out the
protective effects of being a woman in her child-bearing years.
People with diabetes who have
already had one heart attack run an even greater risk of having a second one.
In addition, heart attacks in people with diabetes are more serious and more
likely to result in death. High blood glucose levels over time can lead to
increased deposits of fatty materials on the insides of the blood vessel walls.
These deposits may affect blood flow, increasing the chance of clogging and
hardening of blood vessels (atherosclerosis).
For more information, please visit:
http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/stroke
