Understanding Heart Disease, Diabetes, Blood Sugar and Insulin
Introduction
Diabetes is a lifelong disease that affects the way the body produces and/or uses insulin and often leads to disability and death. Let us discuss also the connection between diabetes and heart disease. People with diabetes are twice as likely to have heart disease or a stroke as people without diabetes and at an earlier age. Diabetes is also the leading cause of kidney failure and lower- limb amputations. Florida Diabetes Advisory Council (2019), also reports that people with diabetes have a lower health status, poorer physical health, and poorer mental health than people without diabetes. To understand these statistics it is important, to keep track of risk factors for communities, track and monitor diseases, see the impact of policy changes, and assess the quality and safety of health care. In general, health statistics is a form of evidence or facts that can support a conclusion. It gives a direction for the future, where we need to be more aware of genetic disorders and where our defaults are in nutrition, missing mobility, and overall general healthcare.
Blood sugar and insulin
The food you eat is broken down into blood sugar (glucose) and from there it is entering your blood circulation system. The blood sugar will signal the pancreas, which is a gland located in the abdomen region, to release insulin, which helps the sugar to enter the body’s cells so it can be used for energy. Insulin also signals the liver to store blood sugar for later use, if it is not needed completely.
The blood sugar enters cells, and levels out the bloodstream, signaling insulin to decrease too.
Lower insulin levels alert the liver to release stored blood sugar so energy is always available, and fuel the cells even if you haven’t eaten for a while.
Diabetes
Type 1 - Also called: juvenile diabetes
Here the pancreas produces little or no insulin. It is a chronic condition that typically is a genetic condition and often shows up early in life. Symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urination, hunger, fatigue, and blurred vision. Treatment aims at maintaining normal blood sugar levels through regular monitoring, insulin therapy, diet, and exercise. If left untreated, type-1 diabetes is a life-threatening condition. That´s why people with type-1 need to watch their diet specifically for the sugar content and inject insulin to balance the levels.
Type 2 - Also called: adult-onset diabetes
Here it affects the way the body processes blood sugar (glucose) and is mainly lifestyle-related and develops over time.
With type 2 diabetes, the body either doesn't produce enough insulin or resists insulin.
Symptoms include increased thirst, frequent urination, hunger, fatigue, and blurred vision. In some cases, there may be no symptoms.
Treatments include diet, exercise, medication, and insulin therapy.
Diabetes and heart disease
Over time, high blood sugar can damage blood vessels and the nerves that control the heart. People with diabetes are also more likely to have other conditions that raise the risk for heart disease, like high blood pressure, which increases the force of blood through your arteries and can damage artery walls. Having both high blood pressure and diabetes can greatly increase your risk for heart disease. Also, too much LDL Cholesterol in the bloodstream can form plaque on damaged artery walls.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we can say that due to the statistics and research, people with diabetes, or even pre-diabetic people, should be always one step ahead when it comes to their health of heart, and circulation. Many health problems are not noticeable and obvious in the beginning. It is therefore advisable for diabetics to do heart check-ups and check their LDL cholesterol levels regularly. Also, a healthy diet should be maintained under all circumstances while following an active lifestyle where mobility is included.
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