Diabetes has grown to epidemic proportions and so have the cardiovascular complications of diabetes. According to the most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), more than 29 million Americans have diabetes. However, what makes this “America’s largest healthcare epidemic” is that 86 million Americans are in a pre-diabetic condition, where their blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
This means that over 115 million Americans are either in a pre-diabetic or diabetic condition. This is creating an enormous health challenge. Even just being pre-diabetic raises a person’s risk for heart disease and stroke. High blood sugar causes oxidative stress or damage to your endothelium resulting in the following cardiovascular complications of diabetes: