What is a risk factor for Heart Disease, Diabetes and Hypertension?

Connection Between Diabetes and Heart Disease

Diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease — we have been told are somehow connected. How? They are connected through a cardiometabolic link, that’s true, but what is one to do when faced with this truth? First of all, learn as much as you can about this. Go and see the doctor and find out what to do to lower the risk of heart disease in diabetics or those with high blood pressure.

When you find out that your Blood Pressure is 132/88, the LDL Cholesterol level is 180 mg/dL and the blood sugar level is 120 mg/dL, what do you think the doctor will tell you? That’s right, he will tell you that you have prehypertension and prediabetes.

Now some people are relieved when they hear the verdict and think, wrongly may I say, that they are home free because they do not have the real hypertension or type 2 diabetes. They have this false sense of security that everything is fine due to their limited understanding of these chronic conditions.

So don’t celebrate just yet because studies have shown that those diagnosed with the evil twins of prediabetes and prehypertension have a higher chance of developing diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. How does diabetes affect the heart? The risk increases due to insulin resistance and blood vessel damage. So you have work to do to prevent this from happening. And it is not really work — it is something you should do anyway to be healthy.

The goal is for the blood pressure to go below 140/90, even lower if you already have diabetes and cardiovascular disease. It should be 130/80 then. In the beginning, the treatment for diabetes, hypertension and heart disease is practically the same, although I’ve seen more aggressive form of treatment with medications and lifestyle changes right off the bat. Here are things you can do to stop these three from making an appearance:

• Maintain ideal body weight, as this is the keystone for treatment of all three conditions.

• Get enough physical activity and do this regularly.

• Eat healthy meals and follow the DASH Diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) with plenty of fruits, vegetables and whole grains and lower fat intake.

• Limit sodium intake.

• Quit smoking, as this is the main risk factor for Cardiovascular Disease in Diabetics.

• Limit alcohol to a daily intake of one ounce of ethanol for men and half of that for women.

• Medication for blood pressure and cholesterol may be added by the healthcare provider if the lifestyle changes cannot control the blood pressure and lipid levels.

Risk for diabetes in hypertension patients has been found to be reduced by preventing left ventricular hypertrophy (enlarged heart). The physicians at Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York-Presbyterian Hospital found that patients with high blood pressure may prevent diabetes when treated for enlarged heart conditions.

Around 20% of patients with hypertension, or 12 million Americans, have an enlarged heart. The reduced risk of developing diabetes is down by 38% in patients who have shown regression of LVH (left ventricular hypertrophy) while treated for high blood pressure. The lowering of risk is not dependent on the type of treatment and level of blood pressure control.

The body needs a healthy heart in order to function properly. Past research demonstrated that treatment of enlarged heart among hypertensive patients lessens the risk for a number of cardiovascular conditions. Now there is an added benefit in the reduction of diabetes and high blood pressure risk.

It is too bad though that those who already have diabetes showed that Blood Pressure treatment is less effective in reducing the enlarged heart when compared with those who do not have diabetes yet. In addition, patients with diabetes did not show any link to the decrease in cardiovascular events.

There is all the more reason to prevent diabetes and hypertension naturally. So we will keep adopting a healthy lifestyle by eating the right way, reducing salt and sugar, and moving more. Prevention of diabetes in patients with hypertension is therefore a vital goal. And that’s the story on the connection between diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease — three conditions that share a common thread and a common solution.