Professional Education Podcast Series  

More than 30 million American adults have diagnosed or undiagnosed diabetes, putting them at risk of having cardiovascular disease (CVD). Moreover, people living with diabetes are two times more likely to develop and die from cardiovascular disease.¹ Know Diabetes by Heart™ Professional Education Podcast Series focuses on the link between CVD and type 2 diabetes (T2D). The series will consist of relevant cutting-edge topics such as up-to-date standards of care, guidelines and their implications for T2D and CVD, and approaches to shared decision making – among others.

To access the podcast series go to KnowDiabetesbyHeart.org/professional

Available Now!

• Know Diabetes by Heart Initiative Discussion – with Eduardo Sanchez, MD and William Cefalu, MD

Upcoming Podcasts in the Series

• Standards of Care
• Guidelines and their implications for T2D and CVD
• Approaches to shared decision making

The American Heart Association’s and the American Diabetes Association’s Know Diabetes by Heart™ Professional Education Podcast Series is brought to you by founding sponsors, Boehringer Ingelheim and Eli Lilly and Company Diabetes Alliance and Novo Nordisk,
and national sponsor, Sanofi.

1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Website.https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/managing/problems.html. Accessed October 2018.

Diabetes can affect any part of your body. The good news is that you can prevent most of these problems by keeping your blood glucose (blood sugar) under control, eating healthy, being physically active, working with your health care provider to keep your blood pressure and cholesterol under control, and getting necessary screening tests.

Heart Disease (Cardiovascular Health)

How can diabetes affect my heart?

Heart disease is the leading cause of early death among people with diabetes. Adults with diabetes are two to three times more likely than people without diabetes to die of heart disease or have a stroke. Also, about 74% of people with diabetes have high blood pressure, a risk factor for heart disease.

How can I be “heart healthy” and avoid heart disease if I have diabetes?

To protect your heart and blood vessels:

• Eat healthy—choose a healthy diet, low in salt. Work with a dietitian to plan healthy meals.
• Get physically active—if you’re overweight, talk to your doctor about how to safely lose weight. Ask about a physical activity or exercise program that would be best for you.
• Don’t smoke—quit smoking, if you currently do.
• Maintain healthy blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels—get an A1C test at least twice a year to determine what your average blood glucose level was for the past 3 months. Get your blood pressure checked at every doctor’s visit, and get your cholesterol checked at least once a year. Take medications if prescribed by your doctor.

How are cholesterol, triglyceride, weight, and blood pressure problems related to diabetes?

People with type 2 diabetes have high cholesterol and triglyceride rates, obesity, and high blood pressure, all of which are major contributors to higher rates of heart disease. Many people with diabetes have several of these conditions at the same time. This combination is often called metabolic syndrome. The metabolic syndrome is often defined as the presence of any three of the following conditions:

• Excess weight around the waist
• High levels of triglycerides
• Low levels of HDL, or “good,” cholesterol
• High blood pressure
• High fasting blood glucose levels.

If you have one or more of these conditions, you are at an increased risk for having one or more of the others. The more conditions that you have, the greater the risk to your health.