A SPECIAL INTEREST SECTION BYMEDIAPLANET PERSONALHEALTHNEWS.CAradically changed her life. “Stairs
are no longer a problem for me,
and now I can breathe much more
easily and deeply,” she explains.
Now that she is retired, she
is fi nally taking time to better
educate herself about her dia-betes. Hanna recommends this
approach to everyone. “Read, read,
read,” she says. “Become your ow n
diabetes expert. Ask your doctor
about the link between diabetes
and heart disease, and how they
can progress if left unmanaged.
It’s a sneaky disease that you
should take seriously.”
Sawdon also believes in the
importance of patients and their
doctor acting as a team, and of
going beyond guilt and judgment.
“People can’t manage this by
themselves,” he says. “We have to
accept them as they are and work
with them to fi nd solutions.”
By following a healthy diet,
getting regular exercise, and fol-
lowing an appropriate treatment
plan, people with type 2 diabetes
can improve their life expectancy
and manage their risk of heart dis-
ease. With Hanna’s heart disease
and diabetes now under control,
she continues to do the things she
loves like gardening and playing
with her rottweiler.Original articles by MLPcom
Translated from French
by MLPcomW
hen Brenda Hanna was
told she had type 2 dia-
betes, she followed her
doctor’s orders, took the prescribed
medication, and paid greater atten-
tion to her diet and blood sugar
levels. But what the 51-year-old
television producer didn’t real-
ize was that diabetes could have
eff ects on other areas of her health.
“I was widowed, raising an eight-
year-old daughter by myself, and
had tenants and a demanding
job. Researching further into my
diabetes was very low on my list
of priorities,” Hanna explains,
regarding her lack of concern.Making the connection
Seven years after being diagnosedwith diabetes, Hanna started
having trouble breathing. It
wasn’t until she had to call 911—
because her symptoms were so
advanced, that she learned she
was suff ering from heart fail-
ure. Despite this new diagnosis,at the time Hanna was still
unaware that her heart problems
were linked to her diabetes.
This lack of awareness of the
connection between type 2 dia-
b e t e s a n d he a r t d i s e a s e i s c o m mo n
among patients with diabetes
according to John Sawdon, Public
Education and Special Projects
Director for the Cardiac Health
Foundation of Canada, an organ-
ization dedicated to educating the
public about heart disease.
The risk, however, is real.
Alarmingly, women with dia-
betes have a 150 percent higher
risk of heart attack than women
who don’t have diabetes. Further-
more, type 2 diabetes can reduce
one’s life expectancy by 15 years,
precisely because of heart dis-
ease. These were critical facts
that Hanna was unaware of at the
time of her diagnosis.New treatment,
renewed life
A year ago, Hanna’s cardiologist
recommended a new treatment
for her t y pe 2 diabetes t hat also had
proactive benefi ts for the heart.
That therapeutic approach has“
I was widowed, raising an 8-year-old daughter“
by myself, and had tenants and a demanding
job. Researching my diabetes was very low
on my list of priorities.
People w ith t ype 2 diabetes
are often unaware that their
disease can have a direct impact
on their heart health. One
woman shares her story of
diabetes-related heart failure
and explains how others can
educate and protect themselves.Treatment Advances
Can Help People
with Type 2 Diabetes
John A. Sawdon
Public Education & Special
Projects Director, Cardiac
Health Foundation of CanadaThese articles were brought to you by two of Canada`s leading research-based pharmaceutical companies.Approximately 1 in 2 Canadians with
type 2 diabetes will die of heart disease.
Even one death is too many.
Visit myheartmatters.ca to learn more