Diabetes mellitus is a very common disease characterized by an increase in blood sugar (glucose), which is also known as hyperglycemia. It is divided into two types: type 1 is due to different mutations that cause destruction of the pancreatic cells that are responsible for producing insulin, which is the hormone responsible for lowering blood glucose. It generally debuts at young ages and is treated with injected insulin. Regarding type 2 diabetes, it is a disease where there is resistance of the different tissues of the body to the action of insulin and it is generally treated with drugs (although it is also treated with insulin in some difficult-to-control patients). .
Regardless of the type of diabetes you suffer from (taking into account that a patient with type 1 diabetes usually has a longer duration of the disease), this is a cardiovascular risk factor, which together with dyslipidemia (elevated cholesterol or triglycerides in the blood), hypertension, smoking or obesity contributes to increasing the risk of stroke-type events or cerebral infarction, acute myocardial or cardiac infarction, as well as peripheral arterial disease (deficit in the circulation of the arteries of the limbs lower).
In addition to being a cardiovascular risk factor, poorly controlled and long-standing diabetes can cause complications in different organs such as the kidney (diabetic nephropathy, one of the most frequent causes of dialysis), the eye (diabetic retinopathy is a of the most frequent causes of blindness in our environment) and the nervous system (in the form of diabetic neuropathy that produces alterations in the nervous sensations of diabetic patients).
There are no preventive measures today for suffering from type 1 diabetes, although there are for type 2, since the latter is mainly associated with obesity, so with an adequate diet this disease can be prevented and even “cured”.
The relationship between this disease and the heart occurs on several levels. As already mentioned, it can affect the arteries of the heart (coronary arteries) causing myocardial infarctions. On the other hand, it can also affect the myocardium (the heart muscle itself), reducing its capacity or force of contraction, thus causing heart failure (accumulation of fluids in the lungs). Another problem that diabetes can cause at the heart level is an increased risk of arrhythmias due to poor functioning of the nerves or neuropathy, which has already been explained previously. Furthermore, for this reason, diabetic patients may not feel pain even if they suffer from myocardial infarctions, resulting in silent infarctions that go unnoticed.
In summary, it is a very common disease that can be associated with different pathologies and is very closely related to the heart. Therefore, its prevention is essential when possible, avoiding obesity. In the event that the disease is present, adequate and intensive treatment is mandatory to prevent all its complications, and an early cardiological evaluation is essential to prevent consequences on the cardiovascular system.
By Dr. Irene Narváez , Cardiac Imaging Unit