Your heart works tirelessly throughout the day, therefore it is important to understand the various factors that can affect this organ, Out of all the other risk factors, high blood sugar, aka diabetes is one of the conditions that can sever impact on your heart health.
High Blood Sugar And Heart Health: Understanding The Connection
High blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, is prevalent globally, partly due to diabetes, but its implications stretch much further than metabolic disorders. This piece delves into how high blood sugar intertwines with heart health and the ways it can impair your cardiovascular system when it escalates.
The chances of heart disorder onset drastically increase with high blood sugar levels. The surplus of glucose in your bloodstream can wreak havoc on your blood vessels over time, prompting a condition called atherosclerosis – the arteries’ plaque buildup. This narrows the artery, limits the heart’s blood flow, and can trigger heart attacks or strokes.
High Blood Sugar Can Lead To Hypertension
High blood sugar can directly affect your blood pressure. Consistently peaking blood sugar levels creep up on the blood vessels to make them lose their flexibility, obstructing smooth blood flow and potentially causing hypertension, a critical heart disorder factor. Therefore, blood sugar levels management is pivotal to normal blood pressure upkeep and reducing heart-related complication risks.
High Blood Sugar Can Affect Cholesterol Levels
High blood sugars could meddle with the body’s cholesterol counts, especially low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol or the ‘bad’ sort. Surging blood sugar levels push the liver to produce more triglycerides, a fat type which potentially spikes LDL cholesterol levels. These high LDL levels contribute to atherosclerosis and hike the heart disorder risk.
Unusual Inflammation Inside Your Body
Inflammation is instrumental in heart disorder’s progression, and high blood sugar can trigger chronic inflammation. With soaring glucose levels, your body can retaliate with the release of pro-inflammatory substances, causing ongoing inflammation. Long-term inflammation can harm the blood vessels and encourage blood clot formation, thereby raising heart attacks and cardiovascular event risks further.
Heart Health Can Get Affected Too!
Chronic high sugar levels can also compromise your heart muscle functionality. The overflow of glucose can affect nerves controlling the heart, causing diabetic cardiomyopathy. It’s defined by structural and functional changes in the heart, potentially leading to heart failure if not treated promptly.
Managing detrimental high blood sugar impacts on heart health necessitates preventive measures and strategic management approaches. These include a nutrient-dense diet packed with fruits, veggies, whole grains, lean proteins, regular physical activity, constant blood sugar monitoring, and strictly following prescribed medication protocols.