INTRODUCTION:
Diabetes is a disease in which the body neither produces nor uses insulin properly. To convert sugar, starches and other food types into energy we need for our daily life, a hormone called insulin is needed. Diabetes is marked by high levels of blood glucose resulting from defects in the production or action of insulin. The causes of diabetes continue to be a topic for argument, although genetics and environmental factors such as lack of exercise and obesity appear to be the primary risk factors for Diabetes.
Diabetes not only causes heart disease, but it is strongly related to strokes, blindness, kidney failure and amputations. Diabetes is a very serious health condition that is highly prevalent in older Adults.
Millions of children and adults Worldwide have diabetes. While an estimated few have been diagnosed with diabetes, unfortunately, several millions of people (up to one quarter of those who have it) are not aware that they have diabetes. More people are having diabetes or impaired fasting glucose, a condition that increases the risk of developing diabetes, everyday. It is therefore very important for the entire world’s population to be aware of the symptoms of this deadly disease called diabetes, so that you know when to quickly see a Doctor for Diagnosis.
In order to determine whether or not you have pre-diabetes (called insulin resistance in which increasing amounts of insulin are needed to digest the same amount of glucose, the principal product of the metabolism of carbohydrates) or diabetes, Doctors usually conduct a Fasting Plasma Glucose Test (FPG) or an Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT). Either of theses tests can be used to diagnose pre-diabetes or diabetes. I recommend the FPG because it is easier, faster, and less expensive to perform.
FPG TEST:
With this test, if your fasting blood glucose level is between 100 and 125 mg/dl, this signals pre-diabetes. If your fasting blood glucose level is 126 mg/dl or higher, it then means you have diabetes.
OGTT TEST:
Here your blood glucose level is measured after a fast and 2 hours after drinking beverage rich in glucose. If your blood glucose level so measured is between 140 and 199 mg/dl, it then means you have pre-diabetes. If your 2-hour blood glucose level is however at 200 mg/dl or higher, it means you have diabetes.
SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF DIABETES:
Time and again diabetes goes undiagnosed because many of its symptoms seem so harmless. Learn what they are in this Article.
Generally speaking, the 3 major symptoms of Diabetes are: polyuria, polydipsia and polyphagia, which are, frequent urination, increased thirst and consequent increased fluid intake, and increased appetite respectively. These symptoms and other symptoms may develop quite speedily (weeks or months) in type 1 diabetes, particularly in children. However, in type 2 diabetes these symptoms develop slowly and may be minor or totally absent. Type 1 diabetes may also cause rapid weight loss even if you eat normally or more and irreducible fatigue. All of these symptoms except weight loss can also be noticeable in type 2 diabetes particularly in patients whose diabetes is poorly controlled.
THE GENERAL SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF DIABETES YOU SHOULD LOOK OUT FOR:
Many of the signs of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are similar. In both, there is too much glucose in the blood and not enough in the cells of your body. High glucose level in Type 1 is due to lack of insulin, because the insulin producing cells have been destroyed. Type 2 diabetes occurs when the body's cells become resistant to insulin that is being produced. Both ways, your cells are not getting the glucose that they need, and your body lets you know by giving you these signs and symptoms below:
1. Excessive and Unquenchable thirst:
If you feel like you can not get enough water and you are drinking much more water than you use to drink, this could be a sign of diabetes, especially if you are urinating frequently too. If your body is pulling too much water out of your blood and you are paying frequent visit to the bathroom to urinate, you will become dehydrated and feel the need to drink more to replace the water that you are losing. When the glucose concentration in the blood is raised beyond its renal threshold, reabsorption of glucose in the proximal renal tubuli is incomplete, and part of the glucose remains in the urine (glycosuria). This increases the osmotic pressure of the urine and inhibits reabsorption of water by the kidney, resulting in increased urine production (polyuria) and increased fluid loss. Lost blood volume will be replaced osmotically from water held in body cells and other body compartments, causing dehydration and increased thirst. A rarer but equally severe possibility is hyperosmolar nonketotic state, which is more common in type 2 diabetes and is mainly the result of dehydration due to loss of body water. Often, you have been drinking excessive amounts of sugar-containing drinks, leading to a vicious circle in regard to the water loss.
2. Frequent Urination:
Are you visiting the bathroom more frequently to urinate, lately? Does it look like you urinate throughout the day and night? Urination becomes more frequent when there is too much glucose in the blood. If insulin is absent or ineffective, the kidneys can not filter glucose back to the blood. They become weighed down and try to draw extra water out of the blood to dilute the glucose. This keeps your bladder full and it keeps you urinating over and over again.
3. Unexplained weight loss:
This symptom is more visible with Type 1 diabetes. In Type 1, the pancreas stops producing insulin, possibly due to a viral attack on pancreas cells or because an autoimmune response makes the body attack the insulin producing cells. The body urgently looks for an energy source because the cells are not receiving glucose. It starts to break down muscle tissue and fat for energy, resulting in gradual and visible weight loss. Type 2 happens steadily with increasing insulin resistance so weight loss is not as visible.
4. Fatigue, Weakness or a feeling of being "run down" and tired:
Glucose from the food we eat travels into the bloodstream where insulin is expected to help in its transition into our body cells. The cells use it to produce the energy we need to live. When the insulin is absent or if the cells do not react to it anymore, then the glucose stays outside the cells in the bloodstream. The cells become energy starved and you feel tired and run down.
5. Tingling or burning pain in Your feet, Legs, Hands, or Other parts of your body:
This symptom is called neuropathy. It occurs gradually over time as consistently high glucose in the blood damages the nervous system, particularly in the extreme cases. Type 2 diabetes develops gradually, and people are often not aware that they have it. Therefore, blood sugar might have been high for more than a few years before a diagnosis is made. Nerve damage can sneak up without our knowledge. In Neuropathy, there could be marked improvement when strict blood glucose control is achieved.
6. Blurred Vision:
Protracted high blood glucose causes glucose absorption, which leads to changes in the shape of your eyes lenses, resulting in vision changes. However, continued rational glucose control usually returns the lens to its original shape. Blurred vision is a common complaint leading to diabetes diagnosis. Type 1 should be suspected in cases of rapid vision change, whereas with type 2 changes are generally more gradual, but should still be suspected.
7. Rapid breathing:
If you have type 1 diabetes, there may be initial presence of Diabetic KetoAcidosis (DKA), an extreme state of metabolic dysregulation characterized by the smell of acetone in your breath. A rapid, deep breathing known as Kussmaul breathing is often a sign. In severe DKA, coma may follow, progressing to death. Diabetic ketoacidosis is a medical emergency and requires instant hospitalization.
8. Slow healing of cuts and bruises:
Recurrent infections or cuts and bruises that take a long time to heal are also signs that something is wrong. Again, when these signs are linked with diabetes, they are the result of high glucose levels in your body.
9. Irritability, depression:
Elderly people who are depressed are more likely to be diabetic than those who are not. People with a high number of symptoms of depression are about 60 percent more likely to have Type 2 diabetes, formerly called adult-onset diabetes, than people not considered depressed. Symptoms of depression include those related to mood swings, irritability, concentration and sleep. It is very important that Doctors screen older adults for depression and if it is present, for diabetes risk.
OTHER SYMPTOMS OF DIABETES INCLUDE:
10. Extreme hunger
11. Dry, itchy skin
12. Headache
13. High blood pressure
14. Frequent or recurring infections, such as urinary tract infections, yeast infections, and skin infections.
SPECIFICALLY:
The symptoms of type 1 diabetes include thirst, frequent urination, and hunger, weight loss, blurred vision, and intense fatigue. Someone with type 1 diabetes conditions faces the possibility of entering into a diabetic coma which is life threatening.
Almost 80% of people with the type 2 diabetes are overweight and symptoms include fatigue, thirst, nausea, fuzzy or blurred vision, frequent urination and weight loss. Infections may repeatedly happen and while type 2 symptoms are similar to type one, the onset of symptoms is more gradual.
POINT OF CAUTION:
Although diabetes is a common disease, parents still often 'over diagnose' their children as being sick with diabetes. If your child is simply drinking a lot of water or urinating a lot it is often not a real symptom of diabetes, unless it is accompanied by weight loss or other symptoms as highlighted above. Diabetes can be harder to identify in young adulthood and adults, who instead of losing weight, are often overweight when they have diabetes. Your Doctor’s assessment and advice in all cases is supreme. This is because any of the symptoms above could be a sign of a different illness. Please, always consult your Doctor for proper diagnosis and advice.
LAST NOTE:
Once you observe any of the diabetes symptoms highlighted in this Article, you should not panic, consult your Doctor immediately. And if you are diagnosed to have diabetes, avoid further health complications. Maintain optimum blood glucose level, make healthy changes in your lifestyle, and be involved in your own Diabetes management. It is especially important to have a good intake of fibre-rich unrefined carbohydrates when you have diabetes. They are absorbed more slowly into the Blood stream after digestion, therefore helping to maintain a normal glucose level.
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