Diabetes and cardiovascular diseases are both incredibly common in the United States—and there is overlap between the two. People with diabetes are at higher risk for heart issues, including heart attacks and congestive heart failure, so it’s critical to manage diabetes well.
There are two subtypes of diabetes, and the type of diabetes someone has influences their cardiovascular care plan, said Stanislav Henkin, MD, MPH, a cardiologist with Dartmouth Health’s Heart & Vascular Center at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center. “While type 1 diabetes often has a genetic component and is much more likely to occur in those who have a close relative with type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes is more common among people with certain risk factors,” Henkin said. “These include being overweight, not being active, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.”
While type 1 diabetes is a chronic autoimmune disease, type 2 is not. Heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, being overweight or obese, inactivity, smoking, and polycystic ovarian syndrome in women are all considered risk factors that can come together to cause someone to develop type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes can cause atherosclerosis, which is the narrowing or hardening of the arteries. People with type 2 diabetes can already have this condition, or develop it later. Both atherosclerosis and diabetes cause inflammation that can lead to heart disease.
“People with type 2 diabetes can adjust their lifestyles to lower their risk of heart-related issues,” Henkin said. The best ways to manage type 2 diabetes and risk factors—especially lowering blood pressure and improving cholesterol—are:
- Exercising regularly: aerobic exercise for 30 minutes per day, five days per week
- Eating a diet high in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds and oils—and low in sugar
- Avoiding smoking
- Taking medication specific to the patient, like a type 2 diabetes medication or cholesterol-lowering medication (usually a statin)
Learn more about type 2 diabetes and heart health from the Dartmouth Health Diabetes Program and the American Heart Association.
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and largest private employer, serves patients across New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,300 providers in nearly every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH. Its network of hospitals, outpatient centers, clinics and home care facilities, spans a broad geographical area. Year after year, DHMC is named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is consistently recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, northern New England’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of less than than 60 total nationally; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital (Children’s Hospital at DHMC/CHaD) and more than 20 locations around the region; eight member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont, Hampstead, and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Dartmouth Health Home Care; Dartmouth Health Connected Care Center for Telehealth, serving patients as far away as Texas; and more than 30 primary and multi-specialty clinics across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its partnership with Dartmouth College, Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and the White River Junction VA Medical Center, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials with international impact. Dartmouth Health and its more than 16,000 employees are committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in the communities it serves and to providing every patient with exceptional, state-of-the-art, personalized care. Learn more at dartmouth-health.org.