Original source overview
What is diabetes?Diabetes is a disease in which your blood glucose, or blood sugar, levels are too high. Glucose comes from foods you eat. The cells of your body need glucose for energy. A hormone called insulin helps the glucose get into your cells.
With type 1 diabetes, your body doesn't make insulin. With type 2 diabetes, your body doesn't make or use insulin well. Without enough insulin, glucose builds up in your blood and causes high blood sugar levels.
What is diabetic heart disease?Diabetic heart disease is a term for heart disease in people who have diabetes. If you have diabetes, you are much more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke than people who don't have diabetes. And you may start having these problems at a younger age.
Over time, the effects of high blood sugar from diabetes can include damage to the blood vessels and nerves in your heart. This damage increases your chance of developing heart diseases, including:
• Coronary artery disease (CAD). It happens slowly as a sticky material called plaque builds up in the arteries that supply your heart muscle with blood. • Heart failure. With this condition, your heart can't pump enough oxygen-rich blood to meet the needs of your body. • Cardiomyopathy. This is a group of diseases in which the heart muscle may become thick or stiff.
Who is more likely to develop diabetic heart disease?Diabetes puts you at serious risk for heart disease. It also makes you more likely to develop other conditions that raise your risk even more, including:
• High blood pressure • High blood levels of LDL "bad" cholesterol • High triglycerides (a type of fat in your blood) with low blood levels of HDL "good" cholesterol
Your risk for heart disease is also higher if you
• Are male • Smoke • Have obesity • Have too much belly fat around your waist, even though you're at a healthy weight:
• For men, that's a waist more than 40 inches • For women, that's a waist more than 35 inches
• Have a family history of heart disease • Have chronic kidney disease
What are the symptoms of diabetic heart disease?In the early stages, heart disease usually doesn't have any symptoms. But if your heart disease worsens, you can have symptoms. Your symptoms will depend on the type of heart disease you have. They might include:
• Shortness of breath • Fatigue • Dizziness or fainting • Arrhythmia (problem with the rate or rhythm of your heartbeat) • Swollen feet and ankles • Chest pain
It's important to know that people with diabetes may not feel chest pain. That's because diabetes can damage the nerves in your heart. If you have any symptoms that could be heart disease, talk with your health care provider.
How is diabetic heart disease diagnosed?To find out if you have diabetic heart disease, your provider will:
• Ask about your medical history, including your symptoms and other health conditions you may have • Ask about your family history, to find out if you have relatives who have or had heart disease • Do a physical exam • Likely run some tests to help understand your personal risk for heart disease, including:
• Blood tests to check your cholesterol, triglycerides, and blood sugar levels • A blood-pressure check • Heart tests, if needed
Depending on your risk level, your provider may send you to a cardiologist (a doctor who specializes in heart diseases) for care. If you do have heart disease, treatment will depend on the type of heart disease you have.
How can I prevent diabetic heart disease?You may be able to prevent heart disease or keep it from getting worse by working with your provider to:
• Control your blood sugar levels • Manage other conditions you may have that can raise your risk for heart disease • Take any medicines your provider prescribed • Make heart-healthy habits part of your daily life • Follow a healthy eating plan for diabetes
NIH: National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Encyclopedic background — Wikipedia
The following selected excerpts provide background on “Cardiovascular disease”. This related background source does not cover every aspect of the specific topic “Diabetic Heart Disease”; population-specific details and decisions should be checked in the original topic source. They are not a substitute for the source overview or current local clinical guidance. Each excerpt below comes from the fixed Wikipedia revision [W1].
Definition and overview [W1]
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is any disease involving the heart or blood vessels. CVDs include coronary artery diseases (e.g. angina, heart attack), heart failure, hypertensive heart disease, valvular heart disease (e.g. rheumatic heart disease), cardiomyopathy, arrhythmia, congenital heart disease, carditis, aortic aneurysms, peripheral artery disease, thromboembolic disease, and venous thrombosis.
The underlying mechanisms vary depending on the disease. It is estimated that dietary risk factors are associated with 53% of CVD deaths. Coronary artery disease, stroke, and peripheral artery disease involve atherosclerosis. This may be caused by high blood pressure, smoking, obesity, high blood cholesterol, diabetes mellitus, poor diet, lack of exercise, excessive alcohol consumption, and poor sleep, among other things. High blood pressure is estimated to account for approximately 13% of CVD deaths, while tobacco accounts for 9%, diabetes 6%, lack of exercise 6%, and obesity 5%. Rheumatic heart disease may follow untreated strep throat.
It is estimated that up to 90% of CVD may be preventable. Prevention of CVD involves improving risk factors through: healthy eating, exercise, avoidance of tobacco smoke and limiting alcohol intake. Treating risk factors, such as high blood pressure, blood lipids and diabetes is also beneficial. Treating people who have strep throat with antibiotics can decrease the risk of rheumatic heart disease. The use of aspirin in people who are otherwise healthy is of unclear benefit.
Types [W1]
There are many cardiovascular diseases involving the blood vessels. They are known as vascular diseases.
Peripheral arterial disease – a disease of blood vessels that supply blood to the arms and legs
Cerebrovascular disease – a disease of blood vessels that supply blood to the brain (includes stroke)
Risk factors [W1]
There are many risk factors for heart diseases: age, sex, tobacco use, physical inactivity, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, excessive alcohol consumption, obesity, unhealthy diet, genetic predisposition and family history of cardiovascular disease, raised blood pressure (hypertension), raised blood sugar (diabetes mellitus), raised blood cholesterol (hyperlipidemia), undiagnosed celiac disease, psychosocial factors, poverty and low educational status, poor sleep, and air pollution. While the individual contribution of each risk factor varies between different communities or ethnic groups, the overall contribution of these risk factors is very consistent. Some of these risk factors, such as age, sex or family history/genetic predisposition, are immutable; however, many important cardiovascular risk factors are modifiable by lifestyle change, social change, drug treatment (for example prevention of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and diabetes). People with obesity are at increased risk of atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries.
Pathophysiology [W1]
Population-based studies show that atherosclerosis, the major precursor of cardiovascular disease, begins in childhood. The Pathobiological Determinants of Atherosclerosis in Youth (PDAY) study demonstrated that intimal lesions appear in all the aortas and more than half of the right coronary arteries of youths aged 7–9 years.
Obesity and diabetes mellitus are linked to cardiovascular disease, as are a history of chronic kidney disease and hypercholesterolaemia. In fact, cardiovascular disease is the most life-threatening of the diabetic complications and diabetics are two- to four-fold more likely to die of cardiovascular-related causes than nondiabetics.
Reading this topic in context
Use “Diabetic Heart Disease” as a starting point for a focused discussion, rather than treating every statement in the broader encyclopedia article as applying to you. The original source overview and the background excerpts answer different questions: the overview explains the health topic for readers, while the encyclopedia supplies terminology and general context. Keep a record of which questions concern symptoms, a confirmed diagnosis, prevention, or an existing treatment. This helps a healthcare professional address the relevant issue without relying on an internet label.
Questions to take to a professional
1. Which cardiovascular problems are relevant to my diabetes history?
2. How should glucose, blood pressure, lipids and symptoms be reviewed together?
Evidence, scope and next steps
The health-topic overview is attributed to MedlinePlus / the National Library of Medicine at the original topic link below. Wikipedia [W1] is a secondary background source; its references can support further reading, but their presence is not evidence that WellPrimer has independently reviewed every study. No clinical review, guideline certification or NLM endorsement is claimed. For screening intervals, diagnostic thresholds, pregnancy or child-specific advice and treatment choices, check current guidance in your country with a qualified professional. Do not start, stop or change a prescribed medicine based on encyclopedia excerpts. New or worsening symptoms need appropriate clinical assessment rather than more reading alone.
Attribution and reuse
[W1] Wikipedia contributors, “Cardiovascular disease”. Version 1378798392, edited 2026-10-06. Retrieved 2026-10-16. Fixed revision: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cardiovascular_disease&oldid=1378798392. Contributor history: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Cardiovascular_disease&action=history. License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ .
The MedlinePlus health-topic summary retains its original attribution. Wikipedia excerpts and the added compilation/commentary are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0; selections, section ordering and editorial reading prompts have been added. No images are reused. This is an educational compilation, not a clinician-reviewed guideline.