diabetes is a chronic health problem that affects how your body turns food into energy. it dramatically increases the risk of various cardiovascular problems, including coronary artery disease with chest pain (angina), heart attack, stroke and narrowing of arteries (atherosclerosis). if you have diabetes, you’re most likely to have heart disease, nerve damage (neuropathy) or stroke. it’s important to the public to understand this because the all-cause mortality rate 1.8 times compared to persons without diagnosed diabetes. it increases the risk of heart attack by 1.8 times. it’s the leading cause of kidney failure, lower limb amputations, and adult-onset blindness.