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How does diabetes cause heart disease: Atherosclerosis, oxidative stress, sugar levels in your bloodstream (How is it all connected?)

Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic disorder that significantly increases the risk of heart disease. Diabetes and heart disease involves lots of mechanisms that are usually attributed to the chronic elevated sugar levels in your bloodstream. Diabetes increases blood sugar levels in the blood, typically attributed to insulin resistance or lack of insulin production. 

High blood glucose levels damage the lining of your blood vessels (endothelium) through a chemical process called glycation. This process causes a lack of nitric oxide production (a crucial compound for ideal heart health) and reduced vasodilation (causing high blood pressure and development of blood vessel tears which lead to clots). This causes atherosclerosis (forming of plaque in your arteries) sometimes called atherogenesis. 

Diabetes is also a cause of chronic inflammation, which translates to high levels of inflammatory molecules like cytokines (agents of cells which activate your body's immune system) and C-reactive proteins. Inflammation is a key driver of atherosclerosis development, and diabetes directly contributes to that. 

Excess sugar in your blood can also generate excess reactive oxygen species (ROS) which causes oxidative stress. ROS basically damages lipids (your cell membranes), proteins (your muscles) and DNA (practically your whole body); which means that it damages every single part of your heart (whether it be its membranes, the muscle as a whole, or the way it functions.)

In conclusion, diabetes elevates your risk for heart disease through a synthesis of all these factors and the way your body individually reacts to the disease. Living a healthy lifestyle (one that prioritizes stable blood sugar levels through foods of low glycemic indexes and a lifestyle that prioritizes exercise)  can help treat diabetes symptoms and prevent heart disease in the future. 

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