November is World Diabetes Month, a time to consider how diabetes impacts overall systems in the body including the cardiovascular system.

Although diabetes is a key heart disease risk factor, it is a “modifiable risk factor” - or one that can be controlled or changed.

Direct Link to Heart Disease

A person with diabetes has high blood sugar (glucose) levels, which means if the pancreas doesn’t create enough insulin hormones to help transport glucose into the body’s cells it causes sugar to build up in the blood. Heart-related problems are caused when, over time, those high glucose levels in the blood lead to changes in the blood vessel wall.

Diabetics have a two to four times greater risk of developing heart disease.

Being overweight automatically puts a person at risk for developing metabolic syndrome, a cluster of risk factors for heart disease and diabetes. According to a study published in the Journal Circulation, women have a higher chance to develop the syndrome, which may include high blood pressure and blood fats (triglycerides) and low levels of cholesterol.

Other risk factors contributing to heart disease are inactivity, smoking and eating a high-carbohydrate diet. Certain ethnic groups such as Hispanics are at high risk of developing it than Caucasians.

Diabetes-related Health Complications

•    Vision loss

•    Foot problems

•    Kidney damage

•    Cardiovascular disease

•    Atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries)

•    Susceptible to ischemia cardiomyopathy (compromised blood flow and oxygen delivery to the heart)

•    Heart attacks

•    Neuropathy (nerve damage)

•    Platelets in the blood clumping together

•    Elevations of blood lipids contributing to coronary artery blockage

Guide to Keep Diabetes in Check

•    Regular blood testing and monitoring blood pressure levels, cholesterol and BMI closely every three to six months by an endocrinologist.

•    Insulin injections are not always necessary. Visit your doctor for other medications by mouth to achieve normal blood glucose levels.

•    Diabetic patients may take Aspirin and Metformin to help prevent heart disease.

•    Diabetics with a bad LDL cholesterol (>100) and/or heart disease should be started on statin drug to help prevent the chances of having a heart attack.

•    A low-fat, low-cholesterol, low-sodium diet that includes a large amount of fruits and vegetables and whole grains will help control the weight, reduce the fat and cholesterol levels and improve insulin resistance.

•    Exercising at least 30 minutes a few times a week – like walking, for example – will do the trick.

Cleveland Clinic’s Section of Preventive Cardiology & Rehabilitation works with patients who have diabetes and cardiovascular disease, or those who are at risk of developing these diseases, to help them manage the risk factors. The healthcare team uses the most advanced technology to understand the patient’s condition and determine the best treatment. For example, testing biochemical and genetic markers to identify the risk of cardiovascular disease or studying novel markers for coronary artery disease.

A team of specialists in nutrition, exercise, smoking cessation and stress management create will customize a “prescription” of treatments to meet the patient’s needs. The available programs include:

•    Preventive Cardiology Program

•    Cardiac Rehabilitation Program

•    Preventive Cardiology Nutrition program

•    Women’s Cardiovascular Center

Cleveland Clinic works toward helping diabetic patients prevent cardiovascular disease or keep it from getting worse, reduce the risk of heart attacks or strokes and the need for surgery.

Advanced Treatment & Surgical Options for Heart

The Heart and Vascular Center at Cleveland Clinic Florida is one of the region’s leading referral centers for cardiac care.
Using a team approach, seasoned experts work closely together to offer comprehensive, integrative treatment options for patients using the latest therapies, cutting edge technology and surgical techniques.

Ranking number one in the nation for cardiology for the past twenty-two years (U.S. News and World Report), cardiac experts at Cleveland Clinic Florida treat patients with all types of heart conditions, such as cardiomyopathy, congenital heart disease, and other complex heart-related health illnesses.

For more information, visit: clevelandclinic.org.

Source: Diane Phillips & Associates