Your blood vessels and heart can be at serious risk if your diabetes is not properly treated and cared for. Too much blood glucose, also known as blood sugar, can severely damage parts of your body. Damage of the heart and blood vessels can cause diseases that lead to strokes and heart attacks. These serious illnesses are the leading cause of mortality for those with Type II Diabetes. But, measures can be taken that will help prevent and slow down problems caused by diabetes. The best thing to do is find out more information about Type 2 diabetes and how to help yourself stay healthy.

 

Your circulatory system is made up of your blood vessels and heart. The blood is pumped through your body with your heart. Oxygen rich blood is carried off to the large and small blood vessels. When you have diabetes, the cholesterol level can be raised very high and thus begin to clog your blood vessels. This makes it harder for adequate amounts of blood to get all parts of your body. This condition also begins to start the onset of other illnesses. When your blood vessels get clogged, you will start to have problems like angina, heart attack or even stroke.

 

Angina is a chest pain that you will feel not only in your chest, but in your arms, back or shoulders. The pain can increase when someone's heart beats faster with increased body movements. Any chest pain is then more frequent if one doesn't followthrough with the right treatment. This can be an effect of Type II Diabetes damaging the nerves of your heart. Some of those with Diabetes Type 2 may not feel pain as the nerves may be already damaged. If this is the case, you may suffer something far worse than just angina. Heart attacks occur when the heart doesn’t receive the full amount of blood it needs. The heart muscles stop and your heart will gradually grow weaker. Sometimes you can have symptoms of a heart attack, other times you have none.

 

Stroke is the worse effect of a damaged heart and blood vessels. This means that the supply of blood to your brain has been blocked. Strokes typically result in brain damage, which is far worse than most cardiac cases. Diabetes can take a patient’s blood pressure up very high causing much damage to the heart and blood vessels. Type ii diabetes already affects a patient’s eyes and kidneys; having high blood pressure will also make it worse. It’s important to speak with your doctor or a dietitian to find out how to control your blood pressure with proper diabetes diet and exercise.

 

Tags: blood glucose, diabetes, heart attack, heart, blood vessels, cardiovascular, symptoms of a heart attack, Health

Each HIV-infected patient initially entering into care should have a complete medical history, physical examination, laboratory evaluation, and counseling. The purpose is to confirm the presence of HIV infection, obtain appropriate baseline historical and laboratory data, assure patient understanding about HIV infection, and initiate care as recommended by the HIV primary care guidelines and by the opportunistic treatment and prevention guidelines. Baseline data then is utilized to define management goals and future plans.

The following laboratory tests should be performed for a new patient during initial patient visits:

•  HIV antibody testing (if prior documentation not available) or if HIV RNA is undetectable (AI);
- CD4 + cell count
•  Plasma HIV RNA (viral load) (AI);
•  Complete blood count, chemistry profile, transaminase levels, BUN and creatinine, urinalysis, screening test
for syphilis (e.g., RPR, VDRL, or treponema EIA), tuberculin skin test (TST) or interferon-? release assay
IGRA (unless there is history of a prior TB or positive TST or IGRA), anti Toxoplasma gondii IgG,
hepatitis A, B, and C serologies, and Pap smear in women;
- Fasting blood glucose and serum lipids if the person is considered to be at risk for heart disease and for
baseline evaluation before the start of ARV therapy and
• For patients who have pretreatment HIV RNA >1,000 copies/mL, genotypic resistance testing when the
patient enters into care, regardless of whether therapy will be initiated immediately (AIII). For patients who
have HIV RNA levels of 500–1,000 copies/mL, resistance testing also may be considered, even though
amplification may not always be successful (BII). If therapy is deferred, repeat testing at the time of
antiretroviral initiation should be considered (CIII).

Patients living with HIV infection must often cope with multiple social, psychiatric, and medical issues that are best
addressed through a multidisciplinary approach to the disease. The evaluation also must include assessment of
drug abuse, economic factors (e.g., unstable housing), social support, mental illness, comorbidities, high-risk behaviors, and other factors that are known to impair the ability to adhere to treatment and to promote education about HIV Once evaluated, these factors should be managed accordingly.
Lastly,  risk behaviors and effective strategies to prevent HIV transmission. to others should be
provided at each patient clinic visit.

Tags: hiv rna levels, HIV Treatment, AIDS, laboratory evaluation, HIV, pap smear