What can you do to prevent heart disease and strokes?
The most important action you can take, to avoid all of the complications associated with diabetes, is to keep your blood glucose under control. You should monitor your glucose levels multiple times daily and log them so you can track trends.
Diabetes is a balancing act. Factors such as physical activity, diet, stress levels and medications can all impact your glucose levels. If you are having problems maintaining good glucose levels, keeping track of this information can provide you and your medical team with clues to modify your treatment and get better control.
You should also have an A1c test 3 – 4 times yearly. This simple blood test reports your average blood glucose levels for the previous 2 – 3 months. The target for people with diabetes is below 7. Non-diabetics have A1c levels between 4.0 and 6.0.
Even if you are at high risk for heart disease and stroke, you can still help keep your heart and blood vessels healthy.
Maintaining target levels for blood pressure and cholesterol are important to decrease your chances for having a stroke. Equally important are attention to diet, physical activity and other lifestyle factors such as being overweight and smoking.