Exploring the Relation between Heart Disease and Diabetes in women

In the United States, heart disease is the leading cause of death for women and it is high time people understood the risks hovering over all those lovely ladies, especially if they also have heart disease and diabetes type II.

As per the American Heart Association (AHA), the term ‘heart disease’ is used collectively to refer a large number of conditions that cause narrowing of blood vessels and hinder normal blood flow. Some of the common heart diseases are arrhythmia, atherosclerosis and even heart failure.

As per the AHA,^[1]adults with diabetes are 2-3 times more likely to meet their end due to heart disease as compared to the ones, who are non-diabetic. Therefore, it is important to understand the relation between heart adults with diabetes are two to four times more likely to die from heart disease than adults who don’t have it. Understanding the connection between heart disease and diabetes.

Connection Between Heart Disease and Diabetes

Although it might seem that heart disease and diabetes are not connected, they actually have a number of overlapping symptoms and even causes. Most people, who develop heart disease, do so on account of a number of factors like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, poor diet, smoking, lack of exercise and family history. These factors are often present in people with diabetes and hence, they are at a higher risk of developing plaque in their blood vessels.

As per Dr. Jane Reusch,[2] associate director of the Center for Women’s Health Research at the [3]University of Colorado, diabetes is “the ultimate assault vehicle on the blood vessels.”

According to Reusch, the president of medicine and science at the American Diabetes Association,[4] when a person has high blood glucose level along with hypertension and high cholesterol, it is almost synonymous to pouring an inflammable substance on the blood vessels. It causes even more serious narrowing.

The Unique Risks Associated with Women

Although diabetic women are not at a greater risk for cardiovascular disease than men, they are still at a higher risk than non-diabetic women. Women are provided with a natural cardio protection that protects the heart against diseases for an extra 10 years when compared to men.

However, as soon as diabetes develops, irrespective of the age of onset, this protection gets worn off. In the recent times, with the advancement in medical science, there are a number of treatments available for heart diseases. This has greatly reduced the number of diabetic men developing heart disease. But, the scene is not so good for the women, whose numbers have not budged even a bit.

Diabetic women often do not have their blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol under control in most of the cases.

Why Is that the Case?

First of all, it is to be noted that not much research has been done on heart disease in women. There are limited articles that have combined heart disease and diabetes for women. Fortunately, there are a few medical institutes that are working towards introducing newer ways and advanced methods of performing studies that evaluate how diseases have different outcomes in males and females. Also, due to social changes, it is now possible to conduct comprehensive and wide-ranging research on cardiovascular disease in diabetic women.

Be Your Own Supporter

However, the entire responsibility of ensuring the health of our lovely ladies does not lie in the hands of health care providers alone. Diabetic women as well as their family members have an equal share of responsibility. Women, due to their quintessential giving and caring nature, often ignore their health and are even less likely to visit a hospital in the event of heart attack.

It is extremely important that women should take a stand for themselves, and realize that their health is equally important and they need to invest time to care for themselves.
If you are a diabetic woman, it is extremely necessary for you to take care of your own health and not feel embarrassed about it while sharing your concerns with your health care provider.

There are a number of ways by which, you can efficiently voice your concerns about the risks of heart disease posed on you due to diabetes. You must get yourself enrolled in health care programs that are run by many health care centers while taking complete take care of yourself.