Diabetes is a group of metabolic diseases that affect the body’s ability to produce or respond to insulin, which causes an increase in blood sugar. Early symptoms may be so subtle that people with diabetes might brush them off as insignificant.
The disease is so deadly that if left unattended to, may cause not only a reduction in life expectancy but also decrease the quality of life. This is why it is exceptionally vital to take the matter of diabetes grave.
There are signs and symptoms you may be experiencing that you may have been ruling off as nothing, however, this is your body desperately trying to tell you something is wrong. Here are some of them:
1. Always getting dehydrated and having the urge always to urinate
“Polydipsia” is the increase in thirst, and “polyuria”, is the urges to urinate frequently, are some of the most typical symptoms of diabetes.
When a person has diabetes, the kidneys won’t be able to absorb all the excess sugar. The body sugar would instead be passed out when you urinate, taking along fluids from the body tissues. This would you even pee more, leaving you feeling dehydrated.
The only natural thing to do when a person is dehydrated is to drink more water, but in the case where a person has diabetes, it leads to even more urination. The average amount of times a healthy person should urinate should be about 6 to 7 times a day. It is also considered normal if a person uses the bathroom 4 to 10 times.
2. Increased hunger
Extreme appetite to eat food “polyphagia” combined with “polydipsia” excessive and constant thirst and “polyuria”, the production of the excess amount of urine, make up three significant signs of diabetes.
If the body doesn’t produce enough insulin or any insulin for that matter, and if the body doesn’t respond the way it should, then there is no way it can convert food into glucose the body cells need for energy.
This effect can cause an increased need to eat all the time and it may be a hunger that doesn’t go away even after eating. It’s so bad that eating may only cause the blood sugar to go even higher.
You may need to consult your physician if you frequently eat but you keep getting hungry, even if you there aren’t other symptoms of diabetes.
3. Blurry vision
In cases where blurred visionisn’t a sign of any eye problems, it could be an early sign of diabetes. Blurry vision happens due to shifting body fluids, and this can make the lens of your eyes swell and may even change shape. This may cause an inability to focus because the things you are looking at starts getting fuzzy or blurry.
Fortunately, blurry visions are usually reversible and you can have your sight back to the way it was once your blood sugar level stabilizes. However, if left untreated, diabetes changes can progress and lead to blindness.
4. Fatigue
A common sign of diabetes is consistent fatigue. When a person suffers from diabetes, he or she would get tired easily and want to sleep all the time for the same reason the person would always feel the need to eat because there isn’t enough glucose to provide energy for the cells in the body.
This would also cause dehydration and the need to constantly drink water, causing the need to frequently urinate, making the person even more exhaustion.
Fatigue is the symptom of other conditions, conditions that may not be medical such as aging and consuming too much caffeine but when other symptoms listed above manifest themselves, then you need to go so a doctor.
5. Weight loss
Losing unexpected weight without the aid of exercises or dieting is a strong cause to worry. When the body fails to use glucose as a source of energy when a person has diabetes, then it starts using up fat and muscle for energy instead.
This can cause a significant drop in weight loss, not to mention dehydration that also contributes to a loss in body weight since the body uses the available fluids to produce urine.
Weight loss is a common sign of type 1 diabetes, but it can also be displayed in people with type 2 diabetes.
6. Itchy skin
When too much sugar is passed out through urination, as earlier explained, it is passes along fluids from other tissues, including the skin, which is the largest organ. This causes dehydration and this leads to dry skin, dry skin leads to itching and when you scratch too hard, can cause the skin to break (injury).
Broken skin if not treated can cause yeast infections. This is why it’s important for a person with diabetes to learn some skin care tips that would keep their skin healthy.
7. Dark patches of skin
The skin condition that comes in form of dark patches of skin with velvety texture is known as “Acanthosis nigrican.” These patches usually manifest themselves in areas where the skin folds or creases such as, the armpit, on the neck, in the groin, behind the knee, the knuckles of the fingers, and inside the elbows.
It should be taken into consideration that the condition can affect even healthy people, as it is a common symptom of pre-diabetes or diabetes. It is crucial you visit your doctor immediately if you notice any form of patches on your skin.
8. Healing slowly
It could be suspected that a person is diabetic if he or she has cuts and wounds that are taking too long to heal. High blood sugar not only cause an increased inflammation in cuts and injuries but can cut blood circulation, making it difficult for blood to reach and repair broken areas of skin.
It is very common to find patients with diabetes to develop foot sores that take a longer time to heal and may even result to even more serious problems.
If you suspect the cuts and wounds on your body is taking longer to heal than usual, then it is important you visit your physician.
9. Tingling or numb hands or feet
Feeling of numbness, pain or tingling in the hands or feet (fingers or toes) is another common sign of diabetes and this is caused when an increase in blood sugar leads to poor blood circulation, which can in fact lead to severe nerve damage.
The hands and feet are the farthest body parts from the heart; suffer first from tingling and numbness. Like other symptoms on this list, it is very vital that you keep your blood sugar in check and maintain regular visits to the doctor.
Diabetes is a sever disease that can result to more serious complications if left unattended. The sooner it is diagnosed, the quicker it is to manage a longer and healthier life. If any of the symptoms listed above manifests itself, especially when it’s several of them combined, then it is imperative that you make an appointment with your doctor, and the sooner you do that, the better.