HOW DOES DIABETES LEAD TO HEART DISEASE?
Type 2 affects many parts of your body, but it’s especially hard on your heart. That’s because the condition can cause changes in your blood, damage to your blood vessels and even damage to your heart.
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- 01INFORMATION
- 02CHANGES IN BLOOD
- 03BLOOD VESSEL DAMAGE
- 04HEART DAMAGE
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HOW DIABETES CAN CHANGE YOUR BLOOD
HOW DIABETES CAN DAMAGE YOUR BLOOD VESSELS
HOW DIABETES CAN DAMAGE YOUR HEART
HOW DIABETES CAN CHANGE YOUR BLOOD
The condition means you have more sugar in your blood. That causes higher levels of inflammation -- more particles like white blood cells and free radicals, that can damage your heart. This can lead to heart failure, a weakening of the heart muscles, which makes it harder to pump blood to the rest of your body. This series of events can also cause a heart attack if a clot forms, blocking blood flow to your heart.
HOW DIABETES CAN CHANGE YOUR BLOOD
You also have more LDL, or “bad” cholesterol, and less HDL, or “good” cholesterol. Plus, type 2 makes blood stickier, so it clots more easily. If a clot blocks blood flow to the heart, you’ll have a heart attack. These changes also boost inflammation in blood vessels, raising the risk of heart failure.
What is HDL?
HDL, or high-density lipoprotein, is the “good” kind of cholesterol because it moves some LDL cholesterol out of arteries and back to the liver.
What is LDL?
LDL, or low-density lipoprotein, is the “bad” type of cholesterol because builds up in fatty deposits, called plaque, inside blood vessels. As plaque builds, it causes inflammation and damages arteries.
HOW DIABETES CAN CHANGE YOUR BLOOD
The small, dense LDL cholesterol can easily build up along tiny tears in artery walls and slip inside, building plaque and causing inflammation and damage. Over time, extra sugar, inflammation, and problems like high blood pressure damage the delicate tissues of your blood vessels.
HOW DIABETES CAN DAMAGE YOUR BLOOD VESSELS
Type 2 means you have more sugar, inflammation, and cholesterol in your blood. They damage the lining inside blood vessels. Damaged blood vessels lead to diabetes-related heart problems.
HOW DIABETES CAN DAMAGE YOUR BLOOD VESSELS
Some layers inside your blood vessel walls become thicker. That affects how well nutrients in the blood can move to the heart tissues.
HOW DIABETES CAN DAMAGE YOUR BLOOD VESSELS
The walls of blood vessels get stiffer, so they can't relax and expand when they need to. That contributes to high blood pressure. It's when the force of your blood moving inside your blood vessels is too high. It damages arteries and makes your heart work harder, which makes the heart muscle weaker over time.
HOW DIABETES CAN DAMAGE YOUR BLOOD VESSELS
Plaque can also build up inside blood vessel walls, making the insides narrower and limiting blood flow
HOW DIABETES CAN DAMAGE YOUR HEART
Changes in blood and blood vessels mean the heart gets less blood, oxygen, and nutrients than it needs.
HOW DIABETES CAN DAMAGE YOUR HEART
Over time, chronically high blood sugar and inflammation also damage the heart itself -- the tiny blood vessels, muscle tissue, and nerves that control how well the heart beats and functions.
HOW DIABETES CAN DAMAGE YOUR HEART
For some people, those changes lead to heart failure. The ventricles become less able to relax and fill with blood, then squeeze to push it out to the body. Heart failure means your heart doesn’t pump as well as it should. If other parts of your body don’t get enough blood and the oxygen it carries, you’ll eventually have symptoms, like fatigue, trouble breathing, coughing, a fast heartbeat, and swelling in your legs or belly.
HOW DIABETES CAN DAMAGE YOUR HEART
Sometimes, plaque and blood clots narrow or block one of your coronary arteries. The heart muscle stops getting oxygen-rich blood. That causes damage and even death of that muscle tissue, causing a heart attack.