Cardiovascular Diseases & Diabetes Mellitus.

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Cardiovascular Diseases and Diabetes Mellitus.

World Diabetes Day: Family and Diabetes.


November 14th of every year is set aside to enlighten the world about this public health problem – Diabetes. A metabolic disease that causes the body to utilize glucose poorly. In this short article, we will look briefly at the pathological link that exists between cardiovascular diseases and diabetes.

“I – in – 2 people with diabetes (212 million) Remain undiagnosed.”

The connection between diabetes mellitus and the development of cardiovascular diseases has been established by clinical research. The following statistics says a whole lot about the connection between cardiovascular diseases and diabetes mellitus:

  • At least 68% of people aged 65 or older with diabetes die from some form of heart disease and 16% die of stroke.
  • Adults with diabetes are two to four times more likely to die from heart diseases than adults without diabetes.
  • The American Heart Association considers diabetes to be one of the seven major controllable risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

The risk of one developing diabetes due to an underlying cardiovascular disease is considerably high and on the other hand, the risk of developing a cardiovascular problem is also high if one has diabetes mellitus.

People with diabetes have the following risk factors that highly predispose them to develop cardiovascular diseases; high blood pressure, abnormal cholesterol and high triglycerides, these abnormalities are due to the bodies inability to produce insulin (Type 2 DM) that helps the body effectively make use of glucose (complex concept here, but an article will be made that simply explains all that happens here).

The aetiology of Cardiovascular Diseases in Diabetes may not be fully understood, but they are reasonable explanations for this pathophysiology. Lipoprotein abnormality associated with diabetes mellitus can partially explain this pathological link.

“Over 50% of type 2 diabetes is preventable.”

Diabetes comes with a cascade of clinical manifestations and abnormalities in lipoproteins is one that is implicated in the formation of atherosclerotic plaques which in turn can occlude the lumen of blood vessels, especially those of the heart (coronary blood vessels), small blood vessels and highly branched vessels with blood flowing through at more pressure.

“Diabetes was responsible for four million deaths in 2017.”

Also, microvascular diseases, including endothelial abnormalities caused by Diabetes Autonomic Neuropathy (DAN) and decreased NO (Nitrous Oxide an important vasodilator) bioavailability, the underlying effects of inflammation caused by diabetes mellitus and oxidative stress are subtle effects of diabetes that are responsible for the development of cardiovascular disease (I will write a more detailed article on the connection of diabetes and cardiovascular disease, which will include more details about these pathophysiologies).

Do you know your health status as far as Diabetes is concerned? Have you checked your blood sugar levels and blood lipids? If you are at risk, maybe you have a parent or family members who have diabetes, have hypertension, are obese, do not partake in exercise or smoke or you have more than two risk factors for the development of diabetes, then you should seek medical attention and have these simple investigations done – blood lipid and sugar level.

“Up to 80% of patients with diabetes die a thrombotic death.”

In the next article, I will write briefly on this year’s theme for world diabetes day – Family and Diabetes were we will briefly explore the role of the family in the management of diabetes.

Ayinla Daniel. RN.
(CARE CITY)

Selected External Links

• https://www.heart.org/en/health-topics/diabetes/why-diabetes-matters/cardiovascular-disease–diabetes

• https://spectrum.diabetesjournals.org/content/21/3/160

• https://worlddiabetesday.org/about/2019-theme/

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