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Most diabetics worry about their losing their vision or having to
amputate their foot due to the risk factors associated with
diabetes. What every diabetic should be concerned about is the risk
of having a heart attack or stroke. Statistics
have shown that more than 65% of people with diabetes die from heart
disease or stroke, and yet over two thirds of the people diagnosed
with diabetes don’t even know of the associated risks.
If you are diabetic you are at least twice and maybe more likely to
have a heart attack or stroke and your chances of dying of a heart
attack is greater than if you didn’t have diabetes. Almost three
quarters of adult diabetics have high blood pressure, which is a
contributor to a heart disease and stroke.
People with diabetes are more likely to have elevated triglycerides
and lower good cholesterol levels. These are blood fats that are
known to cause heart disease and although you do not have to be a
diabetic for them to affect your heart health, the damage caused to
a diabetic is more severe than that of someone who does not have
diabetes. Also, heart
disease occurs earlier in diabetics and can be fatal in more cases.
There are some positive ways to approach the diabetes/heart disease
connections. The lifestyle changes you adopt to manage your diabetes
are going to help combat heart disease. Changing your eating habits
to follow the diabetic food pyramid will help you with weight loss
and high cholesterol. Adding daily exercise to your schedule is not
only good for
your circulation and diabetes, it strengthens your cardiac muscle
and heart health.
At some point in your treatment plan your doctor or health care
professional will go over the ABC’s of diabetes: A1C blood sugar
monitoring, blood pressure and cholesterol. Your doctor will give
you your target levels and some help on how to reach them and you
get the chance to beat the odds.
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