Diabetes, Heart Disease, and Stroke

If you have diabetes, you are at least twice as likely as someone who does not have diabetes to have heart disease or a stroke. People with diabetes also tend to develop heart disease or have strokes at an earlier age than other people.

If you are middle-aged and have type 2 diabetes, some studies suggest that your chance of having a heart attack is as high as someone without diabetes who has already had one heart attack.

Women who have not gone through menopause usually have less risk of heart disease than men of the same age. But women of all ages with diabetes have an increased risk of heart disease because diabetes cancels out the protective effects of being a woman in her child-bearing years.

People with diabetes who have already had one heart attack run an even greater risk of having a second one. In addition, heart attacks in people with diabetes are more serious and more likely to result in death.

High blood-glucose levels over time can lead to increased deposits of fatty materials on the insides of the blood-vessel walls. These deposits might affect blood flow, increasing the chance of clogging and hardening of blood vessels (atherosclerosis).

Points to Remember

• If you have diabetes, you are at least twice as likely as other people to have heart disease or a stroke.
• Controlling the ABCs of diabetes—A1C (blood glucose), blood pressure and cholesterol—can cut your risk of heart disease and stroke.
• Choosing foods wisely, being physically active, losing weight, quitting smoking and taking medications (if needed) can all help lower your risk of heart disease and stroke.
• If you have any warning signs of a heart attack or a stroke, get medical care immediately—don’t delay. Early treatment of heart attack and stroke in a hospital emergency room can reduce damage to the heart and the brain.