A study suggests that when people develop diabetes early in life, their probability of experiencing heart problems in middle age.
Cardiovascular disease has been linked to diabetes for some time now. However, this new study provides evidence that getting diabetes as a young adult may speed up the wear and tear of the heart that comes with age. This is a public health concern, because, according to data from the CDC, the rate of diagnosed diabetes in people under 44 years old in the USA has doubled in the last 30 years. Globally, the prevalence of diabetes in people over 18 years old has risen from 4.7& in 1980 to 8.5% in 2014.
Diabetes is toxic to the heart, especially the left ventricle. Over time, the disease can make it harder for the left ventricle to be filled with blood that will later be pumped to the rest of the body.
The study consisted in examining data from 32,000 patients, between the ages of 18 and 30 years old, over a period of 25 years. The findings showed that the patients who lived the most years with diabetes were more likely to develop heart disease than those without diabetes or those who developed the disease later in life.
Medications and life style changes can help keep diabetes in check. Failing to do so, complications such as blindness, amputations, heart disease, kidney failure, and stroke.
