Tennova Healthcare Recommends Managing Diabetes to Reduce Heart Disease Risk
KNOXVILLE, TN (November 28, 2016) – In recent years, the American Heart Association has identified diabetes as one of the seven major risk factors for cardiovascular disease. According to Tennova Healthcare, it is also one of the most controllable.
A recent study conducted over a 10-year span by the University of Leeds in England, found that adults with diabetes are about 50 percent more likely to die of the effects of a heart attack than adults without diabetes.
“There have been significant advances in the treatment of heart disease over the past two decades,” said Caroline Jackson, D.O., a family medicine physician with Tennova Primary Care – Lakeway West, located in Morristown. “In general, your chances of surviving a heart attack or stroke today are far greater than ever before. But for those with diabetes, the improvements in survival rates are less than half that of the general population.”
Diabetes by itself is now regarded by many physicians as the strongest risk factor for heart disease. And, if you are diabetic, minimizing that risk means more than just controlling blood sugar levels. As a result of the disease, a diabetic patient’s blood vessels are more susceptible to the effects of other heart disease risk factors, including smoking, obesity, high cholesterol and high blood pressure. More than 90 percent of patients with diabetes have one or more of these additional risk factors.
The good news is that the guidelines for preventing heart disease are similar to those for avoiding diabetes.
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Keep your blood glucose in a healthy range. Fasting blood sugar should be consistently under 100. Arguably more important are your A1C levels—a measure of blood glucose levels over the previous three months. An A1C level below 5.7 percent is considered normal.
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Get at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic exercise at least five days per week.
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Eat a balanced diet of whole, unprocessed foods, focusing on a variety of fruits and vegetables.
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Keep blood pressure below 130/80 or 140/90, especially if you have diabetes.
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Keep cholesterol and triglycerides within their normal ranges. So called “bad cholesterol” (LDL) should be no higher than 100 mg/dl in adults with diabetes.
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Keep your body mass index (BMI) within a normal range. BMI should be no higher than 25.
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If you smoke, stop.
“There are many physical and clinical factors relative to heart disease that are outside of our control,” Dr. Jackson said. “But type II diabetes just isn’t one of them. The best way to prevent heart disease is to avoid diabetes. Talk to your doctor, make a plan and then stick to it. Adopting these guidelines may add 20 or even 30 years to your life.”
For more information about preventing or managing diabetes or heart disease, or for a referral to a primary care physician or heart specialist, call 1-855-TENNOVA (836-6682) or visit Tennova.com.
Tennova Healthcare offers preventive, diagnostic and treatment services at Physicians Regional Medical Center, Turkey Creek Medical Center, North Knoxville Medical Center, Jefferson Memorial Hospital, Lakeway Regional Hospital, LaFollette Medical Center and Newport Medical Center. With more than 200 primary care physicians working in collaboration with other medical specialists at multiple locations across the region, the health system is dedicated to offering quality care for every member of the family—close to home.
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