Diabetes and Your Heart

Know your family history, does it include diabetes?

If so make sure you know your numbers. A blood sugar greater than 1oo when fasting  140 for someone two hours after eating is considered high. When you go to your health care professional for blood tests do you ask for a copy of the results, or do you simply get a call from the nurse saying it is normal? I recommend always getting a copy of your results. Over the years many are told there blood sugars are normal when in fact they are prediabetic. This should trigger either a conversation or a referral for education on how diet and exercise can help to avoid having full blown diabetes. Unfortunately this piece is often missing in many health care visits. Make sure you advocate for yourself. The infographic below is posted to help you advocate for yourself or your loved one.   Keep records of your lab reports track and trend them, are they improving or worsening. You know best how well you have adhered to a healthy diet, but the numbers give you concrete data.

Heart patients need to be more aware than most as several heart medication can pre-dispose one to diabetes.

Great fix the heart but then get diabetes! Yes, it is a real issue, but again through tracking, diet and exercise, medications hopefully we can prevent this from occurring.

There  is a strong link of heart disease  in people who  have high cholesterol and are diabetic.  Cardiovascular disease  is much more prevalent if their  Hemoglobin A1c is chronically elevated. This significant contribution by elevated HbA1c to increased CVD is independent of statin therapy (cholesterol lowering medications), and thus requires appropriate HbA1c management in addition to lipids reduction. It is vitally important that any individual with known heart disease and diabetes gets their hemoglobin A1c measured approximately 4 times per year by their primary health care provider. Once a year is not enough. Tight control is imperative. If the blood sugars are constantly running high the vessels that deliver blood to the heart are constantly inflamed setting the stage for further heart issues.

There are many hemoglobin A1c calculators can be found on the internet. Here is Medscapes version

http://reference.medscape.com/calculator/hemoglobin-a1c-est-plasma-glucose