Diabetes often goes hand in hand with heart disease. This is especially true among older adults who have diabetes. However, there are things you can do that could potentially change your story as you age. The first and most important key step is to work with your physician to come up with a personalized and aggressive treatment plan to address your concerns. Your doctor may describe the following strategies, and/or others to help you reduce your risk of heart disease as you age.

1. Weight management therapy. Aside from controlling your sugar, obtaining, and maintaining a healthy weight is the single most important thing you can do to avoid heart disease if you have diabetes.
2. Smoking and tobacco cessation therapy. If you smoke and have diabetes, you need to quit. It’s as simple as that. Smoking is bad for your health on every front.
3. Nutrition management. Manage what you eat to help control your blood sugar and to reduce your risks of developing heart disease as you age.
4. Exercise therapy. Exercise is good for your body, good for your blood sugar, and great for your heart. You don’t have to run the Boston Marathon, but you do need to make an effort to exercise, at least some, every day.
5. Consider aspirin therapy. It used to be an apple a day that kept doctors at bay. Now, many people credit an aspirin a day for the same result. Always consult your doctor before beginning these or any other types of therapy.

Working with your physician can help you come up with a winning strategy to manage your diabetes and keep cardiovascular disease away.