Damage to the Blood Vessels In Diabetes

Long-term complications of diabetes include : Damage to the blood vessels in diabetes

High blood glucose levels damage the blood vessels. Damage to tiny blood vessels is called micro-vascular damage, and is responsible for problems such as retinopathy (when the capillaries of the eye's retina break down and leak blood, affecting eyesight), neuropathy (nerve damage) and kidney damage.

Damage to large blood vessels is called macro-vascular damage, and contributes to heart disease; cardiovascular problems such as strokes; and peripheral vascular disease (breakage and blockage of the blood vessels supplying the extremities).

Some vascular damage may be treated surgically. The biggest mingle favor you can do yourself is to quit smoking. Cigarettes damage the heart and blood vessels, increasing the already high risks of such damage faced by people with diabetes. Other known risk factors for macro-vascular damage include untreated hypertension (high blood pressure) and high cholesterol levels.

Let's take a closer look at some of these types of vascular damage, and associated problems.

While heart disease is the commonest cause of death among the general population, people with diabetes tend to develop it earlier than others, and at a higher rate — men face twice the risk of heart disease, women four times the risk of heart disease as the rest of the population. In fact, having a heart attack can sometimes be the first symptom of undiagnosed non-insulin dependent diabetes.

And people with diabetes face two to six times the risk of stroke. These risks may be reduced by diet and exercise and by keeping a careful eye on blood pressure, blood glucose levels and cholesterol levels.