Mellitus diabetes presents many secondary health problems, which need to be carefully managed to maintain general good health, once diabetes has developed. High blood glucose levels can cause problems for the heart and blood vessel. This is the first in a series of articles looking at maintaining health within diabetes, and looks at what the heart and blood vessels do and at measures that will help to keep them healthy.
Motivation
One of the keys to success in any program that we might undertake to maintain our health, when we have a serious condition, is to know what our motivation is. It does take effort to keep up a healthy daily habit of being careful to ‘do this, ‘avoid this’ etc. So, we need a clear motivation to keep making the effort. That’s something that will be different for all of us. Maybe there’s an age that you want to achieve, maybe kids you want to see grow up? Maybe it’s as simple as your desite ot live longer, be healthier and happy.. Whatever it may be, it will help enormously that your attitude is: “I need this, because..”
What do my heart and blood vessels do?
Your heart and blood vessels make up your circulatory (cardio-vascular) system, which carries oxygen and nutrients to every part of the body, and takes waste products, like carbon dioxide, away for excretion. Your heart is a musclular pump that pushes blood through your body. It pumps blood to the large blood vessels (arteries) which feed into smaller blood vessels and finally into finer vessels called capillaries. These capillaries are able to make their way through all the tissues of the body; taking nutrients to every cell. Capillaries then merge together again to form veins that move blood away from the tissues and back to the heart & lungs. The blood is then refreshed with oxygen, and sent back around the body. It all keeps flowing to keep the tissues healthy and functioning normally.
What can I do to prevent heart disease and stroke?
With diabetes, there’s a greater risk of heart disease and strokes, which impairs the work of the cardio-vascular system. Fortunately, there is a lot you can do to prevent both heart disease and stroke. Here are some of the self-help measures you can take:
– Keep your blood glucose under control. You can get a check to see if it is under control by having an A1C test at least twice a year. This test tells you what your average blood glucose has been for the past 2 to 3 months; and you can work with your doctor to address any changes that might be needed.
– Keep your blood pressure under control. Generally your doctor should be checking this at every visit. The target for most people is below 130/80.
– Keep your cholesterol under control. It’s a good practice to have it checked once a year (at least). The targets for most people are:
– LDL (bad) cholesterol: below 100
– HDL (good) cholesterol: above 40 in men and above 50 in women
– triglycerides (another type of fat in the blood): below 150
– Make physical activity a part of your daily routine. This doesn’t have to be some regime of gym-work that you keep up! The aim is to do at least 30 minutes of exercise on most days of the week. It may be advisable to check with your doctor, who can tell you what activities are best for you. There are lots of ways to incorporate enough exercise into daily routines. You could take a half-hour walk every day. You could get into the habit of walking for 10 minutes after each meal. How often do we chose an elevator just to go up one or two levels? Use the stairs instead of the elevator and you’ve added to your exercise. Chances are that you try to park your car nearest to the entrance at the mall? Park at the far end of the parking lot and again you’ve added to your exercise quota! It’s all about a mindset that sees these things as being Good For Me, not an effort to avoid.
– Make sure you eatfoods that are “heart healthy.” That means including foods that are high in fibre, such as oat bran, oatmeal, whole-grain breads and cereals, fruits, and vegetables.
– Cut back on foods high in saturated fat or cholesterol. That means reducing foods like meats, butter, dairy products with fat, eggs, shortening, lard, and foods with palm oil or coconut oil.
– Limit foods with trans fat. You would generally need to limit snack foods and commercial baked goods.
– Lose weight, if you are overweight. we’re trying to remove risk factors that we can chose to manage, and our weight is one of those. So try to exercise most days of the week. See a registered dietitian if you need help in planning meals that will lower the fat and calorie content of your diet. The dietitian may help to keep you focused on the goal: to reach and maintain a healthy weight.
– If you smoke, quit! Applies to everybody, but especially for someone with diabetes, it’s a big factor you don’t need.Your doctor can tell you about ways to help you quit smoking.
– Ask your doctor about taking an aspirin every day. Studies have shown that taking a daily low dose of aspirin can help reduce your risk of heart disease and stroke.
– Take your medicines as directed.
How do my blood vessels get blocked up?
Blood cholestrol levels are the main concern here.
There are several things, including having diabetes, that can make your blood cholesterol level too high. We tend to havea negative attitude to ‘cholestrol’, but it’s important to recognize that Cholesterol isn’t “all bad”. It is a substance that is naturally made by the body. It makes cholestrol to be used for many important functions. We also take it in through food that’s derived from animals. When cholesterol in the blood is too high, the large blood vessels become narrowed or clogged. This congestion is called atherosclerosis. Narrowed and clogged blood vessels make it harder for the heart to pump enough blood around your body; and that condition can cause problems.
What can happen when blood vessels are clogged?
Here are some of the serious health problems that arise when blood vessels become narrowed and clogged; you can have :
– Chest pain, known as angina. It is a warning bell to tell you that the heart and blood vessels are under stress. When you have angina, you may also feel pain in your chest, arms, shoulders, or back. You may feel the pain more when your heart beats faster, such as when you exercise or get distressed, or anxious. The pain may go away when you rest. You also may feel very weak and sweaty. If you do not get treatment, the chest pain may happen more often. Sometimes in diabetes the heart nerves get damaged, and you may not feel the chest pain. This is a serious concern, you need to know if your heart is under stress!.
– Heart attack. A “heart attack” is what happens when a blood vessel in or near the heart becomes blocked. The heart muscle suffers trauma because not enough blood can get to it. Whenever an area of the heart muscle stops working, the heart is weakened. If you suffer a heart attack, you may have chest pain and nausea, indigestion, extreme feeling of weakness, and sweating.
– Stroke. A “stroke” is what can happen when the blood supply to the brain is blocked; and the brain may then be damaged from lack of oxygen.
What are the warning signs of a heart attack?
You may have one or more of the following warning signs:
– chest pain or discomfort
– pain or discomfort in your arms, back, jaw, or neck
– indigestion or stomach pain
– shortness of breath
– sweating
– nausea
– light-headedness
Or, you may have no warning signs at all.
The warning signs of a heart attack may come and go. If you have any of these warning signs, don’t delay: call 911 (Emergency) right away.
How do narrowed blood vessels cause high blood pressure?
If blood vessels become narrower, there’s a smaller opening for blood to flow through. That creates pressure, just like turning on a garden hose and holding your thumb over the end. The smaller opening makes pressure build up and the water shoots out with more force. In the same way, narrowed blood vessels lead to high blood pressure. There are other factors that can also lead to high blood pressure, such as kidney problems and being overweight.
Many people with diabetes also have high blood pressure; and if you have heart, eye, or kidney problems from diabetes, high blood pressure can make them worse.
Your blood pressure reading is written with two numbers separated by a slash. For example, your reading might be 120/70, said as “120 over 70.” For people with diabetes, the target is to keep the first number below 130 and the second number below 80.
If you have high blood pressure, your doctor will advise you how to lower it and work with you on a proper course of action. Your doctor may prescribe a daily blood pressure medication. Some types of blood pressure medicine have the additional benefit of helping to keep your kidneys healthy.
You may also be able to control your blood pressure by:
– eating more fruits and vegetables
– eating less salt and high-sodium foods
– losing weight if you need to
– being physically active
– not smoking
– limiting alcoholic drinks
What are the warning signs of a stroke?
A stroke is the sudden death of some brain cells due to a lack of oxygen. It happens when the blood flow to the brain is impaired by blockage or rupture of an artery to the brain. Depending on the part of the brain that is damaged, a stroke can cause these symptoms:
– sudden weakness or numbness of your face, arm, or leg on one side of your body
– sudden confusion, trouble talking, or trouble understanding
– sudden dizziness, loss of balance, or trouble walking
– sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes or sudden double vision
– sudden severe headache
As with heart attack, sometimes, one or more of these warning signs may happen and then disappear. You might be having a “mini-stroke,” also called a TIA (transient ischemic attack). If you have any of the warning signs, call 911 (Emergency) right away.
How can clogged blood vessels hurt my legs and feet?
There’s acondition called PAD – Peripheral arterial disease – that can happen when your blood vessels become narrow and your legs and feet don’t get enough blood. The signs of this are that you may feel
pain in your legs when you walk or exercise. Some people also have numbness or tingling in their feet or legs or have sores that heal slowly.
What can I do to prevent or control PAD?
– Don’t smoke.
– Keep blood glucose and blood pressure under control.
– Keep blood fats close to normal.
– Exercise.
– Ask your doctor if you should take aspirin every day.
In some cases, you also may need surgery to treat this problem.
To summarize:
There are a few circulatory problems that can arise or be made worse due to diabetes. They present some clear signs due to trauma, such as pain in the chest and limbs. They are caused by a degeneration of our circulatory system: affecting the health of the heart muscle and the condition of the blood vessels. There are a number of basic lifestyle measures that we can take that will help prevent or alleviate these problems. For most of the circulatory problems this essentially means: avoiding eating junk foods and smoking; doing more exercise (add walking back into your routines!) and eating a healthy diet that includes more fruit & vegetables and less high calorie and animal foods.
Your health is a great return on investment in these measures!
Richard Lodge is Administrator of a small educational and social welfare organization that targets youth at risk. In his ‘spare time’ he teaches meditation and Buddhism. His diverse online interests include personal health and environmental protection. He has authorship of several blogs reflecting these interests. For more information see: http://ReviewRatings.net.
