Cardio Vascular Disease, the forgotten complication

[goslow]

I have been a Type 2 diabetic for nearly 9 years and shortly after diagnosis I discovered this website and am so grateful that I did. I saw the sense of reducing Carb intake despite some very strong arguments against it from HCPs. Low carb was not as well known then as it is now.
So for the past 8 years or so I've been managing well. Reduced carbs, healthy diet, exercise and walking football kept weight down well below 24 BMI and 6 monthly Hba1c from 37 to 43 but slowly creeping up.
Then I had my heart attack.
Came as a surprise and a shock as I thought I was safe from most diabetic complications. Cardiologist said my heart veins showed normal diabetic symptoms and on seeing the pics from the Angiogram was shocked to see the small veins sort of crumbling away.
So I hit the internet and found on this site under Diabetic Complications the information labelled "Diabetes and Heart Disease" 2nd paragraph "Coronary heart disease is recognized to be the cause of death for 80% of people with diabetes, however, the NHS states that heart attacks are largely preventable. [48]"
The ref [48] is for NHS choices and does not mention that 80% is the cause of death for diabetics - in fact I find it hard to believe. I know that causes of death can be notoriously difficult to accurately assess with patients with chronic/multiple conditions but there must be some basis for Diabetes.co.uk printing that figure.
I am also perplexed by the lack of posts on Coronary Heart Disease. There are some dated 2009 with queries on why it is difficult to test for blocked arteries before a heart attack but I have not found much since.
Grateful for any replies and answers and in particular for the source for the 80% figure.

 

[bulkbiker]

It's not difficult to test for... the CAC scan (Coronary Artery Calcium) will give you a good indication of the likelihood of a heart attack. Its just that very few doctors seem to recommend them preferring to look at cholesterol levels instead, which are not a great indicator of heart disease. I went private for mine simply because it was at my convenience and a lot less hassle than pestering my useless surgery for one, but I think most people over 50 should try to get one to assess their risk.

 

[goslow]

It's not difficult to test for... the CAC scan (Coronary Artery Calcium) will give you a good indication of the likelihood of a heart attack. Its just that very few doctors seem to recommend them preferring to look at cholesterol levels instead, which are not a great indicator of heart disease. I went private for mine simply because it was at my convenience and a lot less hassle than pestering my useless surgery for one, but I think most people over 50 should try to get one to assess their risk.

Thanks for the info. I must admit I had never heard of a CAC scan but reading about it shows that DUK must be behind the times. Their 15 healthcare essentials do not mention anything like it, in fact the word heart or cardiologist are not mentioned at all.

I'm off to see Dr next month - I'll see what he says but not much hope.
Thanks for the info and after at least 5 years away it's good to be back to this forum.