Health

Heart Risks For Diabetics

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

February 20, 2002 / 1:06 PM EST / CBS

Two out of three diabetics don't consider cardiovascular disease a serious threat, a new poll says, even though heart disease and stroke are the leading killers of diabetics.

That may be largely their doctors' fault, says the poll commissioned by the American Diabetes Association. Among the diabetics surveyed, 52 percent said their health provider has never discussed lowering blood pressure, and 45 percent had received no advice about lowering cholesterol.

"This research clearly illustrates the gap between perception and reality," said Dr. Christopher Saudek, president of the American Diabetes Association.

"The harsh reality is that if you have diabetes, you have a two to four times greater likelihood of having a heart attack than if you do not have diabetes."

While heart disease is the No. 1 killer of all Americans, diabetics are at particular risk because high blood sugar damages their blood vessels. Two-thirds of deaths among diabetics are due to cardiovascular disease.

Yet the new poll, released Tuesday, showed diabetics are more aware of and worried about disabilities commonly caused by diabetes - such as blindness or amputation - than this most life-threatening complication.

"There is a feeling of 'it won't happen to me,'" the diabetes association concluded.

The survey "reinforces the need to help people with diabetes understand their increased risk for heart disease and stroke, and what they can do to reduce those risks," said Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson.

Thompson used the poll's dismal results to draw attention to the government's "ABCs of Diabetes" campaign, which urges diabetics to get tested regularly for A1c (to test blood sugar), blood pressure and cholesterol. The diabetes association and American College of Cardiology recently launched a similar awareness campaign called "Make the Link."

Thompson, who has taken on diabetes as a pet project, said he wants to encourage exercise and a healthier lifestyle among all Americans.

"Just walking 30 minutes a day, reducing your weight by 10 to 15 pounds, can reduce the incidence of diabetes by 58 percent," he said. "It is amazing what a 30-minute walk in your neighborhood can do in reducing diabetes and heart disease."

Most of the 16 million Americans with diabetes have type-II or so-called adult onset diabetes, which is almost always caused by lifestyle. Recent research shows that children as young as 10 are developing type-II diabetes, which carries a risk not only of heart disease, but of kidney failure, blindness and circulation problems that can force amputations.

The survey of 2,008 diabetics was conducted between August and October, and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points.