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This post was sponsored as part of an Influencer Activation for Influence Central and all opinions expressed in my post are my own.

If you remember, I’ve talked about my father’s health problems, one of them being heart issues and another one of them being Type 2 Diabetes. He’s been a cardiac patient for almost 30 years and had Type 2 Diabetes for around the same time. And he’s been in heart failure for a while.

Did you know that up to 50% of people with Type 2 diabetes may develop heart failure (HF), and after it develops, there is no cure?

As someone who is pre-Type 2 Diabetes myself, I’m worried about my future and my own heart. Diabetes can promote thickening of the walls of the heart and other structural changes, ultimately interfering with pumping.⁶ However, the damage to someone’s heart may have already started, even before they were diagnosed with T2D.⁷ Up to half of all people living with T2D will develop heart failure, and five years after heart failure diagnosis, only about half will still be alive.^1,2

Diabetes Can Break Your Heart is a national movement from AstraZeneca with a goal to change the trajectory of heart failure in Type 2 diabetes patients. There needs to be more awareness on how to reduce the risk and seriousness of heart failure. People with Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) can find ways to reduce their risk of developing heart failure.

It was just announced that Diabetes Can Break Your Heart will travel across the US in this next calendar year to teach communities about the link between Type 2 Diabetes and Heart Failure.

People will want to see the Diabetes Heartbreaker experience, an immersive, VR (virtual reality) experience designed to heighten awareness of the Type 2 Diabetes and Heart Failure (HF) connection to spark a sense of urgency around the steps people living with T2D can take today to reduce their risk tomorrow. It is essential that this is realized. The Diabetes Heartbreaker experience will make its public debut in the AstraZeneca booth at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions 2019 in Philadelphia before hitting the road in 2020.

Talk to your doctor to understand your risk of heart failure and what immediate actions should be taken. To learn more about the Diabetes Can Break Your Heart movement, visit www.diabetesheartbreak.com.

Resources That Can Help

AstraZeneca U.S. Community Connections Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/AstraZenecaUSCommunityConnections/

AstraZeneca Instagram Page: https://www.instagram.com/astrazeneca/

AstraZeneca Twitter Page: https://twitter.com/AstraZeneca

References

1. American Diabetes Association. 10. Cardiovascular Disease and Risk Management: Standards of Medical Care in Diabetes—2019. Diabetes Care. 2019;42(suppl 1):S103-S112.
2. Roger, Véronique L. Epidemiology of heart failure. Circ Res. 113(6) (2013): 646-59.
3. Packer, Milton et al. Heart Failure: The Most Important, Preventable, and Treatable Cardiovascular Complication of Type 2 Diabetes. Diabetes Care 2018 Jan; 41(1): 11-13.
4. National Institutes of Health. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Heart Failure. https://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health-topics/heart-failure. Last accessed September 16, 2019.
5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Heart Failure Fact Sheet. https://www.cdc.gov/dhdsp/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fs_heart_failure.htm. Last accessed September 16, 2019.
6. Jia G, Hill MA, Sowers JR. Diabetic cardiomyopathy: an update of mechanisms contributing to this clinical entity. Circ Res. 2018;122(4):624–638.
7. Mayo Clinic. Type 2 Diabetes. Complications. https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/type-2-diabetes/symptoms-causes/syc-20351193. Last accessed, September 19, 2019.

#DiabetesHeartbreak #IC