A recent study found that diabetic women run a greater risk of dying from heart disease than diabetic men (Diabetes Heart Risk Higher for Women Than Men).

According to Chinese medicine, women’s bodies generally tend to be more yin than men’s bodies. More yin means more of the Water element (since Water is yin), which translates to cooler bodies and therefore slower circulation. This is equivalent to heart problems in Western medicine.

Diabetes, in Chinese medicine, is defined as a problem of ‘Excess Water’ (and also ‘Excess Earth’). This, of course, only makes matters worse, leading to an even greater excess of the Water element. And that is why diabetic women are at greater risk of developing heart problems than diabetic men, everything else being equal.