Stories
Diabetes: The Silent Killer Driving Heart Disease and Attacks, Experts Warn
- •Experts warn that diabetes significantly increases the risk of heart disease and heart attacks due to high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and inflammation damaging blood vessels.
- •Dr. Ashwin Mehta highlights that prolonged hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, and systemic inflammation cause endothelial dysfunction, making blood vessels vulnerable to plaque.
- •Diabetes often clusters with increased cholesterol, triglycerides, and hypertension, further elevating the risk of heart attacks.
- •Dr. Naresh Trehan explains that nerve damage in diabetic patients can mask typical heart attack warning signs, making regular cardiac evaluations crucial.
- •Doctors emphasize the need for annual or biennial heart check-ups for diabetic patients, as many experience significant heart damage without symptoms.
Key Questions Answered
Diabetes leads to hyperglycemia, insulin resistance, and systemic inflammation, which damage the blood vessel lining through endothelial dysfunction and glucotoxicity. These factors, combined with increased cholesterol and triglyceride levels, make blood vessels more vulnerable to plaque buildup and cardiac complications.
Diabetes can damage nerve endings that normally transmit pain signals from the heart, causing the body's alarm system to fail. As a result, patients may experience progressive heart damage and severe coronary blockages without feeling typical chest pain.
Experts recommend that physicians treating diabetic patients ensure they get a heart check-up or echocardiogram every year if stable, or at least every two years. Regular evaluations are crucial because many patients suffer significant drops in heart function without realizing it due to masked symptoms.
