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There are two factors in Type 2 diabetics' metabolism that can actually reduce and possibly eliminate the risk factors for heart attacks and strokes.
The bad news is that heart disease is the number one killer of Type 2 diabetics.
The link between diabetes and heart disease is so close that Type 2 diabetes is itself considered a form of heart disease.
The same risk factors are present for both: being overweight, unhealthy triglyceride and cholesterol levels, and high blood pressure.
These factors represent the "metabolic syndrome", a cluster of metabolic factors that together indicate high risk for heart attack and strokes.
In addition to these the diabetic has high blood sugar, which causes havoc with the liver, kidneys, and heart.
The metabolic syndrome is not merely a group of independent symptoms that happen to coincide in an individual.
All of these risk factors are closely related and work together.
If you have even one of them, you are likely to have several, and probably all of them.
The only way to know what your triglyceride and cholesterol levels are is through lab testing.
Check with your doctor to have a lipid profile test.
Having the metabolic syndrome may sound like a dark and unhappy scenario (and it is), but the fact that these factors are so closely related can also be used to prevent or lessen their effect.
Lower one, and the others may be lowered as well.
In fact, two of the metabolic syndrome risk factors in Type 2 diabetics can be brought under control, which in turn will very likely reduce and possibly eliminate the other factors.
These two factors are being overweight and high blood sugar.
Control these two classic Type 2 diabetes factors, and the triglyceride and cholesterol levels should improve, the high blood pressure reduce, and your general health will improve.
Of course, if it were easy to control weight and blood sugar, heart disease would not be the number killer of Type 2 diabetics.
It is very difficult, and not only because of a lack of willpower.
There is yet another factor present in Type 2 diabetics, the factor that all but defines what Type 2 diabetes is: insulin resistance.
Insulin resistance must be controlled, else efforts to control weight and blood-sugar will be frustrating and near impossible.
It is especially difficult in those cases where the Type 2 diabetic must use insulin injections to help control blood sugars.
Insulin resistance means more insulin must be injected.
Insulin that is not used to transfer blood-sugar into the cells is used to produce more body fat.
Increased body fat increases the insulin resistance, which requires more insulin to be used to reduce blood sugar levels.
On and on it goes in a terrible, spiraling cycle towards cardio-vascular and other life-threatening diseases.
Even this cycle can be broken, but again it is not easy.
Insulin resistance can be treated with drugs such as metformin and/or others prescribed by your physician.
A further approach and therapy is to limit the amount of carbohydrates in the diet that raise blood-sugar and require insulin in the first place.
The point of this article is that by controlling your weight and blood sugars, as well as your insulin resistance, you can greatly lessen your risk factors for heart disease and strokes.
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