5 Lifestyle Changes to Improve Your Heart Health This Fall
Improving your heart health doesn’t just support your heart. It can increase your longevity, too. This fall, make these five changes to boost your cardiovascular health.
Understanding the Connection Between Diabetes and Heart Disease
If you’re living with diabetes, your risk for heart disease is twice as high as the general population. While you might not see the connection between the two conditions on the surface, high blood sugar can damage your cardiovascular system over time and place stress on your heart.
Experienced physician and cardiologist Jeffrey H. Graf, MD, is here to help you work against heart disease risk factors like diabetes so you can avoid serious complications like heart attacks. At his private practice on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York, he provides individualized support for your cardiovascular health.
In this article, we explain how diabetes can set the stage for heart disease and describe what you can do to decrease your risk.
How diabetes affects the heart
You might already know that prolonged high blood sugar in diabetes can damage different organs and tissues in your body, causing common diabetes complications like neuropathy and kidney problems. Similarly, this high blood sugar can damage your blood vessels and nerves of your heart.
When high blood sugar in diabetes damages your blood vessels, they’re more likely to develop fatty deposits. Your arteries get narrower as a result, and your heart must work harder to pump blood.
Most people with diabetes have high blood pressure, too, which causes further damage to your blood vessels. Prolonged hypertension also prevents insulin from working properly, which can keep your blood sugar high and increase damage to your heart and blood vessels.
Complications of heart disease in diabetes
When you have diabetes, your risk of having a heart attack or stroke is almost twice as high as people who don’t have diabetes. You’re also more likely to develop heart problems at a younger age, especially if you don’t manage your diabetes and other heart disease risk factors.
Testing for heart disease in diabetes
If you live with diabetes, Dr. Graf might recommend regular tests to identify signs of heart disease early. Beyond basic blood pressure readings, certain tools can test your heart health.
Electrocardiogram (EKG)
An EKG records your heartbeat so your care team can evaluate the electrical activity that keeps your heart pumping.
Echocardiogram
An echocardiogram assesses how your heart pumps by measuring the thickness of your heart muscle.
Exercise stress test
Exercise stress tests measure your heart rate while you walk or run on a treadmill. Exercise makes your heart work harder, so this test reveals how well your heart works under pressure.
Lowering your heart disease risk
The most important step you can take to protect your heart when you have diabetes is to manage your blood sugar by following your diabetes treatment plan. This might involve taking insulin, modifying your diet, or exercising more often.
You can also lower your risk of heart disease and its complications by:
- Quitting or avoiding smoking
- Managing your body weight
- Managing stress with healthy coping skills
- Getting enough sleep
Regular checkups are also important for monitoring your health and identifying heart problems as early as possible.
Diabetes may increase your heart disease risk, but monitoring and managing your health can help you keep your heart healthy and functional. To book your next visit with Jeffrey H. Graf, MD, call the office or request an appointment online today.
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