Your action plan to prevent heart disease while living with diabetes

If you have diabetes, it's important to pay special attention to your heart to prevent diabetic heart disease. Learn action steps you can take to improve your overall health.

Transcript

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If you have diabetes, then you also have an increased risk of heart disease. [MUSIC PLAYING]

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Almost 7 in 10 people with diabetes over the age of 65 will die of some type of heart disease. This is partly caused by the high blood sugar levels brought

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on by diabetes, which can lead to deposited plaque on the inside of the blood vessel walls, causing the vessels to become clogged, narrowed, or hardened.

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There are also several other risk factors that people with diabetes need to watch out for, like obesity, high blood pressure, and unhealthy cholesterol levels, which

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further adds to your chances of getting diabetic heart disease. It's important to know that keeping your blood sugar levels at target can reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease.

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Now, thankfully, there are some steps you can take to manage many of these conditions and reduce your odds of getting heart disease.

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The factor which you have the most control over is making healthy lifestyle changes. That starts with managing your blood glucose levels.

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For most people, this means aiming for a target blood sugar between 80 to 130 milligrams per deciliter before meals and less than 180 milligrams per deciliter

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after meals. Eat a balanced diet with plenty of heart-healthy fruits and veggies, cut out excess salt and processed foods,

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and make sure your portion sizes don't get out of hand. Another great step that you can take is increasing your physical activity.

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At least 30 minutes of brisk exercise a day will lead to great improvements in your overall health, especially for your heart.

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By eating healthy and exercising, you'll be able to lose weight and help improve your high blood pressure and cholesterol. You'll also want to kick the smoking habit

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since there's a clear link between smoking and heart disease. For people with diabetes, it's important to keep your blood sugars within a normal range and take any prescription

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medications as directed. If you're having trouble managing these risk factors in addition to your diabetes, well, talk with your doctor about medications

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that can help improve your health and avoid diabetic heart disease.