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Women, diabetes and heart disease: Dawn's story
Most women lead very busy lives. They have places to go, work to do, people to care for.
Women with diabetes have even more to manage. For instance, they must control their glucose levels to help prevent kidney, nerve and eye damage. And diabetes can take a major toll on the heart.
Dawn McCarter, RN, certified diabetes educator, knows the risks better than most. Diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at the age of 15, she's now a diabetes program coordinator with Allina Medical Clinic - Diabetes Education.
Having healthy pregnancies
Diabetes meant additional risks when McCarter became pregnant with her daughter Olivia (6 years old) and her son Elijah (21 months). But intensive monitoring and blood glucose control ensured that both she and her baby remained healthy throughout each pregnancy.
Worrying about complications
Although her diabetes is under control, McCarter says she worries about the complications of her disease. "My concern is down the road, like maybe 10 years from now. The longer you have diabetes, the greater the chance of having complications."
With diabetes, high blood glucose levels can damage blood vessels and increase the risk of atherosclerosis, a clogging of the arteries that leads to heart disease. Conditions that often accompany diabetes -- such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and obesity -- can add to the danger.
Lowering heart disease risks
Compared to people without diabetes, women with the disease tend to have lower levels of HDL ("good") cholesterol and higher levels of fats in their blood. That combination can result in a type of LDL ("bad") cholesterol that easily packs into artery-clogging plaque. All told, diabetes increases a woman's risk of heart disease by three to seven times.
In addition to blood glucose control, the American Diabetes Association recommends these heart disease prevention steps:
- blood pressure control: The suggested target is less than 130/80 mm Hg. It is important to get your blood pressure checked each time you visit your doctor.
- cholesterol control: The suggested target for LDL is less than 100 mg/dl of blood. It is important to have a cholesterol test once a year.
Exercising daily, eating a healthy diet, taking medicines as prescribed, not smoking, and for most people, taking an aspirin daily also help lower the risk for heart disease.
Following her own advice
McCarter follows the advice she gives to her patients. "I manage my intake of carbohydrates, and I have regular medical follow-up, which includes having my blood pressure and cholesterol checked. I know that I need to maintain good control of my blood pressure, cholesterol, as well as my blood glucose, if I want to live heart healthy with diabetes."
McCarter says she believes many of her patients find it helpful to have a nurse with diabetes. "I think I'm able to help them be realistic. No one is perfect in managing their diabetes. The important thing is to keep trying your best to keep it under control."
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Allina Medical Clinic - Diabetes Education Allina Pregnancy Care Women's Heart Centers
Source: Elizabeth Barrett-Connor, MD, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine; Circulation; Coffey Communications, Life and Health, issue 3, 2002; Dawn McCarter, RN, nurse clinician, diabetes program coordinator, Allina Medical Clinic – Diabetes Education
First published: 09/16/2002
Last updated: 07/15/2008
Reviewed by: Mary Frederick, RN, MS, CDE, diabetes program manager, Allina Medical Clinic
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