This post was sponsored as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central. All opinions expressed in my post are my own.
There is a major relationship between diabetes and cardiovascular disease, so recognizing the diabetes symptoms in men and women is important. Diabetes Can Break Your Heart, quite literally, and it’s important to do all we can to educate ourselves and others so that these risks can be minimized. This is something I have to do for myself and for my family. This is something my dad does for us, too!
Type 2 Diabetes and Heart Failure Connection
Did you have any idea that there is a direct and very strong link between heart failure (HF) in Type 2 diabetes (T2D)? I bet you that many of the people reading this did not. That’s ok, I didn’t either at one point. My father was stricken with both ailments and I got to learn and appreciate the connection pretty quickly. From various medications and treatments to multiple hospital visits, the risks are very real.
Knowing the diabetes symptoms in men was one thing, but finding out how it’s related to heart failure was another. It was a shock, but it made so much sense. It’s been a struggle for my dad to control both for some time now. I can’t help but think that if we knew of the connection sooner, we may have been able to reduce his risks a little bit more. It’s now a part of our lives and an ongoing battle just about every day. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure is just as true now as it was when this phrase was coined. And there’s no better example of the truth in that phrase then when one talks about their health.
Know the Risks of Heart Failure
Here is a crazy (and scary) fact: up to 50% of individuals with type 2 diabetes may develop heart failure, and after it develops, there is no cure.1,2 In fact, after HF diagnosis, the survival rate is 50% at five years and 10% at 10 years. That’s a sobering statistic, isn’t it? It’s real and it’s way to prevalent today. There are actions you can take today that can make huge difference in reducing your risk tomorrow.
Many people focus on their A1C blog tests, used to diagnose type 2 diabetes and prediabetes. When it comes to your health I think it’s best that you focus on HF as well as your A1C. HF is one of the earliest and most common cardiac complications for people living with T2D. Diabetes can promote thickening of the walls of the heart and other structural changes, ultimately interfering with pumping.
Now you know, so you can take action early to help reduce your risk of developing heart failure! Everyone living with T2D should learn what they can do. The single most immediate action that patients with T2D can take is talking to their doctor about their risk of HF and identifying a plan to help reduce this risk. And be sure to share this information and try to help others reduce their risks. The actions you take today can make a huge difference in reducing your risk tomorrow.
Diabetes Can Break Your Heart
Diabetes Can Break Your Heart is a national movement with a goal to change the trajectory of heart failure (HF) in Type 2 diabetes (T2D), offering a powerful declaration and rallying cry to raise awareness, create community action and spark dialogue between those with Type 2 diabetes and their healthcare providers to reduce the risk of HF.
This amazing movement will travel across America in 2020 to educate and activate communities around the inherent link between T2D and HF through an innovative and immersive experience. The tour will bring together local advocacy organizations, key community leaders, and the public, with the common goal to empower the diabetes community to demand more for their future.
An amazing Diabetes Heartbreaker immersive virtual reality experience is at the core of the Diabetes Can Break Your Heart initiative. This VR experience should show the connection between Type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The cutting-edge technology brings the symptoms of heart failure to life.
Additional Resources
Diabetes can break your heart – so do your best to not let it! Talk to your doctor to understand your risk of heart failure. Find out what immediate actions should be taken. Diabetes and cardiovascular disease are not to be taken lightly and should never be viewed as unavoidable! Do your best to fight them both! Think of you, your family, and your friends.
To learn more about the Diabetes Can Break Your Heart movement, visit diabetesheartbreak.com. For even more great information on this as well as other diabetes symptoms in men or diabetes symptoms in women, be sure to check out the AstraZeneca U.S. Community Connections Facebook Page, AstraZeneca Twitter, AstraZeneca Instagram, and search #DiabetesHeartbreak across social media.
References
- American Diabetes Association. 10. Cardiovascular Disease and Risk Management: Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes—2019. Diabetes Care. 2019;42(suppl 1):S103-S112.
- National Institutes of Health. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Heart Failure. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/
health-topics/heart-failure. Last accessed September 16, 2019.
