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Heart and blood vessel damage can affect anyone, but these problems occur more often in people with diabetes and can develop at an earlier age.
If your family has a history of high blood pressure, stroke, or heart disease, you might carry some of the same genes that can lead to these problems. If you also have diabetes, the likelihood of blood vessel damage is even greater.
No one knows exactly why people with diabetes are more likely to have these problems, but some possible reasons are:
- Blood-fat levels tend to be high when blood sugar levels are high. High levels of certain blood fats (especially cholesterol, LDL or bad cholesterol, and triglycerides) increase the risk of blood vessel damage and heart attack.
- High blood pressure, which is more common in people with diabetes than in other people, also increases the chances for heart disease and stroke.
How damage happens
Arteries, the blood vessels that carry blood from your heart to the rest of your body, are like flexible, elastic tubes. Inside the artery walls are slippery to let blood pass through quickly.
When fat begins to build up on the artery walls, it makes the artery thick and less flexible. The lining of the artery wall becomes sticky instead of slippery, causing more fat to build up. The fat build-up clogs and blocks the artery.
When the artery is blocked, the parts of the body beyond the blockage can't get the oxygen and nutrients they need. This causes damage that can lead to serious health problems including high blood pressure, heart attack, stroke, kidney damage, and poor blood flow to the arms, legs, and head.
Preventing heart disease
You can't change the fact that you have diabetes or a family history of high blood pressure, stroke, or heart disease. But there are many things you can do to lower your chances of having serious heart problems.
Don't smoke or use tobacco of any kind. If you do use tobacco, quitting is one of the most important things you can do to lower your chances for heart disease and damage to your arteries. People with diabetes who use tobacco are up to 20 times more likely to have a heart attack or stroke.
Using tobacco also affects how well diabetes medicine is absorbed and used in your body. This makes it harder to control blood sugar levels.
Control your blood pressure. Your blood pressure numbers show two things: the amount of pressure in your heart when it pumps blood (the first number) and the amount of blood pressure in your artery when your heart relaxes between beats (the second number).
The goal for people with diabetes is to keep blood pressure at least below 140/90 and in some cases below 130/80. Keeping your blood pressure in these ranges protects your blood vessels and heart, as well as helps prevent stroke and kidney damage.
There are certain medications such as ACE inhibitors, statin cholesterol lowering medications, and aspirin that can help prevent heart, stroke, and other vascular complications in patients with diabetes. Please discuss with your physician or diabetes provider if these medications are right for you.
Control your blood sugar. Keeping your blood sugar under control means blood sugar levels that are in a safe range most of the time. Well-controlled blood sugar levels will help protect your arteries. Work with your health care team to aim for the best blood sugar control that's possible for you.
Exercise. Exercise helps keep arteries healthy because it can lower blood pressure, help you get to or maintain a healthy weight, reduce "bad" cholesterol (LDL) and increase "good" cholesterol (HDL.) To get the most benefit from exercise, aim for at least 30 minutes of activity at least five days of the week.
Eat a healthy diet. The same healthy diet that helps people manage diabetes is one that helps protect your blood vessels. Lower the fat in your diet and eat more high fiber foods. This will help you lower your total cholesterol, your LDL cholesterol, and your triglycerides.