Managing diabetes and heart disease

SINGAPORE: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic illness, caused by the inability of the pancreas to secrete enough of a hormone called insulin or the body losing its ability to use insulin.

Insulin controls the transfer of sugar (glucose) from the bloodstream into body cells. For people with diabetes, the absence or insufficient production of insulin results in elevated blood sugar levels or hyperglycaemia.

According to data from the International Diabetes Federation, 230 million people worldwide have the disease and this is expected to affect 350 million people by 2025.

Link between diabetes and heart disease

People with diabetes are two to four times more likely to develop coronary artery disease and stroke. It is often associated with other cardiovascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure, increased total cholesterol and triglyceride levels, decreased HDL (High-Density Lipoprotein) cholesterol levels, and obesity.

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