![]() veins – they carry blood back to your heart.arteries – they carry blood away from your heart.Let’s start with the major blood vessels in your body, these are your: Here we’ll explain what can happen in your body to cause these heart complications. Read Sarah's story to find out what she's doing to reduce her risk of developing complications Diabetes and heart attack "It’s all very well having your bloods taken but go back and ask about them – what do the results mean? I make sure I get all my checks and by taking that control myself, I'm reducing my risk of developing these complications." But there are lots of other things you can do to reduce your risk of heart disease. You should be getting access to your diabetes healthcare checks as normal but if you are still experiencing delays or changes to your appointments as an impact of the coronavirus pandemic we advise that you speak to your healthcare team and ask when these will be happening again.īy managing these three things, you'll be helping to manage your diabetes and protecting yourself against heart complications. Getting your HbA1c, cholesterol and blood pressure checked at least once a year are part of the checks you should have if you have diabetes. You can help prevent damage to your blood vessels by looking after your: Find out more about reducing your risk of serious foot problems. It’s called peripheral vascular disease (PVD) and if left untreated, can also lead to amputation. Narrowing of the blood vessels can affect other parts of the body too, like your legs and feet. That’s on top of the strain from high cholesterol and high blood sugar. High blood pressure puts extra strain on your blood vessels too. This can lead to high blood pressure (also called hypertension) or make high blood pressure worse. Not only does the blood struggle to flow through the blood vessels, but over time atherosclerosis makes the walls of your blood vessels more rigid and less elastic. This can starve the heart of oxygen and nutrients and this is what causes a heart attack. In the narrower space, blood flow slows down and causes some of the blood cells to group together and clot. If a blood clot breaks away, it will travel through your arteries and veins until it reaches a section too narrow to pass through, making it partially or completely blocked. This is called arteriosclerosis or atherosclerosis and is the most common cause of a heart attack. Hard plaque can block up the blood vessels, which makes the space narrower and leaves less room for blood to flow. Over time, this fat hardens and is known as plaque. If your cholesterol is too high, then the extra fat in your blood sticks to the walls of your blood vessels. Blood vessels are also damaged by high cholesterol (blood fats) and high blood pressure. We've talked about the link between high blood sugar levels and your heart health. ![]() Even mildly raised blood sugar levels can, over time, put you more at risk.īe in the know about your HbA1c and how to lower it if it's too high. So keeping as close as possible to your target HbA1c level will help protect your blood vessels and in turn your heart. This build-up can block and damage the vessels carrying blood to and from your heart, starving the heart of oxygen and nutrients. This is because your body can't use all of this sugar properly, so more of it sticks to your red blood cells and builds up in your blood. If you have high blood sugar levels for a period of time, even slightly high, your blood vessels can start to get damaged and this can lead to serious heart complications. Why does diabetes increase your risk of heart disease? Every week, we estimate, diabetes is a cause in over 590 heart attacks and 770 strokes in the UK
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