Heart health and diabetes

How do you know if you have heart disease?

People often do not know they have heart disease until they develop symptoms. This is why it important to have regular heart health checks before symptoms develop.

Symptoms can be:

• chest pain or heaviness
• shortness of breath
• dizziness or faintness
• arm or jaw discomfort
• weakness
• nausea

These symptoms require urgent medical attention. If you have had diabetes for a long time and have nerve damage, you may not notice some or any symptoms of heart disease. These symptoms are also less common in women.

How can you find out about your risk?

The best way of finding out about your risk of heart disease is by having a regular heart health check (HHC) with your doctor. A heart health check can help you better understand your risk of having a heart attack or stroke in the next five years, and what you can do to reduce your risk.

What is involved in a heart health check?

A heart health check is a 20-minute check-up with your GP.

Your GP will ask you about your medical and family history of heart disease as well as your lifestyle, including your diet, physical activity, and if you smoke or drink alcohol.

They will also check your blood pressure, cholesterol and assess your glucose levels.

Your GP will then take this information and use it to calculate your risk of a having a heart attack or stroke in the next five years. They can provide you with information and support you to make positive health changes to lower your risk.

Although heart disease does sound daunting, the good news is that you can reduce your overall risk of heart disease by making heart-healthy changes and taking medicines, if your doctor has prescribed them.

Further information about heart health checks

• Heart Foundation – heart health check information
• Heart Foundation – video on heart health check

Further information about heart disease

• NDSS information sheet – Looking after your heart
• Better Health Channel – Heart disease - know your risk