Diabetes is a chronic (long-lasting) health condition that affects how your body turns food into energy. With diabetes, your body doesn’t make enough insulin or can’t use it as well as it should. When there isn’t enough insulin or cells stop responding to insulin, too much blood sugar stays in your bloodstream. Over time, that can cause serious health problems, such as heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease.
There isn’t a cure yet for diabetes, but losing weight, eating healthy food, and being active can help people significantly.
Type 1 diabetes is thought to be caused by an autoimmune reaction (the body attacks itself by mistake). This reaction stops your body from making insulin. Approximately 5-10% of the people who have diabetes have type 1. Symptoms of type 1 diabetes often develop quickly. It’s usually diagnosed in children, teens, and young adults. If you have type 1 diabetes, you’ll need to take insulin every day to survive.
With type 2 diabetes, your body doesn’t use insulin well and can’t keep blood sugar at normal levels. About 90-95% of people with diabetes have type 2. It develops over many years and is usually diagnosed in adults. Type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed with healthy lifestyle changes.
Gestational diabetes develops in pregnant women who have never had diabetes. If you have gestational diabetes, your baby could be at higher risk for health problems. Gestational diabetes usually goes away after your baby is born. However, it increases your risk for type 2 diabetes later in life.
High blood pressure , also called hypertension, is blood pressure that is higher than normal. Your blood pressure changes throughout the day based on your activities. Having blood pressure measures consistently above normal (130/80 mmHg.) may result in a diagnosis of high blood pressure (or hypertension). The higher your blood pressure levels, the more risk you have for other health problems, such as heart disease, heart attack, and stroke.
Cholesterol is a waxy substance found in your blood. Your body needs cholesterol to build healthy cells, but high levels of cholesterol can increase your risk of heart disease. With high cholesterol, you can develop fatty deposits in your blood vessels. Eventually, these deposits grow, making it difficult for blood to flow through your arteries. Sometimes, those deposits can break suddenly, and form a clot that causes a heart attack or stroke.
Thrombosis occurs when blood clots block your blood vessels. It prevents blood from flowing normally through the circulatory system. Thrombosis can be deadly, and can affect any age, race, gender, and ethnicity
Refers to a blood clot that blocks an artery. Arteries carry blood away from the heart to other parts of the body. Arterial blood clots can block blood flow to the heart and brain, often resulting in a heart attack or stroke.
refers to a blood clot in a vein. Veins carry blood to the heart from other parts of the body.
Each person’s symptoms may vary. Symptoms may include:
Angina is a type of chest pain caused by reduced blood flow to the heart. Angina pain is often described as squeezing, pressure, heaviness, tightness or pain in the chest. It may feel like a heavy weight lying on the chest.
Stable angina is the most common form of angina. It usually happens during activity (exertion) and goes away with rest or angina medication. For example, pain that comes on when you're walking uphill or in the cold weather may be angina. The chest pain typically lasts a short time, perhaps five minutes or less.
Unstable angina is unpredictable and occurs at rest. It's typically severe and lasts longer than stable angina, maybe 20 minutes or longer. The pain doesn't go away with rest or the usual angina medications. If the blood flow doesn't improve, the heart is starved of oxygen and a heart attack occurs. Unstable angina is dangerous and requires emergency treatment.
Variant angina is caused by a spasm in the heart's arteries that temporarily reduces blood flow. Severe chest pain is the main symptom of variant angina. It most often occurs in cycles, typically at rest and overnight. The pain may be relieved by angina medication.
Refractory angina is a chronic and persistent form of angina, a type of chest pain caused by reduced blood flow to the heart. This condition occurs when the heart's demand for oxygen exceeds its supply, despite optimal medical therapy and interventions. Refractory angina is characterized by frequent episodes of chest pain that are not adequately controlled by standard treatments, such as medications or revascularization procedures.
Atrial fibrillation is a heart condition that causes an irregular and often abnormally fast heart rate. This chaotic activity leads to an irregular and, usually fast pulse rate, which may cause palpitations, and increases the risk of having stroke, heart failure or other heart-related complications.
Some people with atrial fibrillation don't notice any symptoms, while others may experience:
Most people are able to live full and active lives with AF. You can do this by taking your prescribed medication, following the medical advice you received from your doctor, having regular medical check-ups and making positive lifestyle changes.