Diabetes And Heart Disease

Diabetes and Heart Disease

Summary: Diabetes and heart disease sufferers follow the same program for a healthy lifestyle to help lower the risk of a more serious condition.

You might be asking what does diabetes and heart disease have in common besides the fact that they are both serious ailments.

One significant relationship between diabetes and heart disease is that people with diabetes are more likely to get heart disease! I had a life-size question mark stuck on my forehead when I found it out. It is because I had a family history of diabetes, but I was relieved when I had my annual health exams, required by the company I worked with, because I was just fine.

If you have diabetes, your blood sugar level is usually much higher than it should be. Excess sugar in your blood can cause damage to many parts of your body, and blood vessels are also affected. Poor lifestyle habits can aggravate the risk of heart disease. But, there are several things that you can do to lower your risk for diabetes and heart disease, like:

o Keeping your blood sugar level under control- will also lower your risk of heart disease. Many people with diabetes check their blood sugar level each day to ensure that their medications, diet, and exercise are working to keep blood sugar in a normal range.
o Lose weight until you reach a normal weight and keep it that way- diabetes and heart disease sufferers have to lose weight to reduce the risk of aggravating the condition. Losing weight helps a lot in any health problems.
o Lower your cholesterol level- cholesterol is in fats and oils and too much intake of these can clog your arteries.
o Increase physical activity- proper diet alone is not enough if you have excess baggage around your body. Diet and excise is a perfect combination in combating diabetes and heart disease. You can lose weight faster if you practice healthy diet and proper exercise.
o If you smoke, stop smoking- smoking doesn't do anything good to your body, but rather damages your blood vessels. Smoking is bad to those who have diabetes and heart disease. If you have diabetes and you smoke, you double your chance of getting heart disease. If you smoke and you have heart disease, you can die within one hour if you have a heart attack.
o Control your blood pressure- high blood pressure is common to people with diabetes and it's a major risk factor for stroke. High blood pressure increases your risk for heart disease and kidney disease.

Always remember that people with diabetes and heart disease must live a healthy lifestyle to be able to combat these awful diseases; it's just a matter of staying healthy and keeping yourself fit. We only have one heart and one life to take good care of.