Diabetes Signs and Symptoms

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diabetes

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Signs and Symptoms of Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetes is a disease with apparent signs. Symptoms are easily detected in a patient. Even before the onset of diabetes, underlying signs are already manifested. Although majority of the type 1 and type 2 Diabetes signs are identical to each other, there are few that can differentiate the two. All of these will be discussed in this article. It is also important to know, that type 2 Diabetes’s symptoms are chronic in nature hence, will not show signs at the onset of the disease. Type 2 Diabetes’s symptoms can still be observed even after a long period of time.

Apart from type 1 and type 2 diabetes, another important type is Gestational diabetes, which may occur at the time of pregnancy due to the hormonal changes that affects the glucose levels.

The 3 red flags of diabetes that should never be ignored and may be the first signs of diabetes are increased hunger, unexplained weight loss and frequent urination. Apart from these, the symptoms of diabetes can be classified according to its types.

The type1 diabetes (traditionally known as Juvenile diabetes) and also known as insulin-dependent diabetes can be severe and may occur suddenly. It is a situation when the pancreas stops making insulin. Mostly, it affects children and young adults and it can adversely affect the heart, eyes, kidneys, nerves, gums, or teeth. People suffering from this type of diabetes must take insulin injections to control their blood glucose levels. The symptoms of type1 diabetes are as follows:

Symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes or Juvenile Diabetes

  1. Increased hunger (even after meals)
  2. Increased thirst
  3. Frequent urination
  4. Dry mouth
  5. Unexplained weight loss (even though eating is normal)
  6. Heavy and difficult breathing
  7. Fatigue and weakness
  8. Blurred vision
  9. Dry, itchy skin
  10. Numbness or tingling sensation in the feet
  11. Unconsciousness (in rare cases)

The type2 diabetes is a condition that usually affects adults but with the rise in obesity, children are also being affected now. Sometimes referred to as adult-onset diabetes, It is a chronic disease characterized by high glucose levels in blood. It is a condition where body does not correctly respond to the insulin. People who are obessed are more likely to have this type of diabetes as fat hinders the body’s ability to use insulin.

Usually, people with type 2 diabetes do not have any symptoms, but if they do have, it is similar to type1 diabetes, and may include the following:

Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes

  1. Feeling tired most o the time
  2. One will always want to eat something because there will be increase in the appetite
  3. Increase in the level of thirst
  4. One will not have control over ones urination because it will increase rapidly
  5. The vision of the infected person will become blurred with time
  6. Erectile dysfunction or impotence
  7. If anyone gets any cuts or sore then one will find it difficult to heal as it will take time.
  8. Yeast infections will occur

Gestational diabetes occurs in about 4% of all pregnancies and usually affects women who are over 25 years of age. Mostly, they have a family history of diabetes and are above their normal body weight before pregnancy. The symptoms of gestational diabetes are mild and is not life threatening to the mother or the baby if detected and treated on time. Screening for gestational diabetes is performed during pregnancy. The symptoms are as follows:

Symptoms of Gestational Diabetes

  1. Increased level of thirst
  2. Feeling of tiredness always
  3. Vision becomes blurred as there is tendency of retinopathy
  4. Nausea and vomiting is a common phenomenon
  5. Increased urination, this is a common symptom for all the types of diabetes
  6. Increased infections of bladder, skin or vagina
  7. Weight loss even after increase in appetite, this needs an urgent check up

Lets us know check and discuss the signs of diabetes in detail because one should be aware of it and should check it out whenever possible.

Signs of Diabetes

1. Flu like symptoms

When a person is detected with diabetes, the first sign, which it gives, is a viral illness with loss of appetite and weakness. The main fuel of our body is sugar and when it is not working properly or reaching the cells, then one tends to feel fatigue.

2. Loss or gain of weight

The body tries to compensate on the lost sugar. The stomach tends to feel hungry and we eat a lot if the situation is so. We often tend to put on weight. There is another situation that in spite of eating more than normal the body tends to loose on weight, this is so because the glucose present inside the body fails to generate the required energy and growth in the cells. Such a case arises in case of type1 diabetes where the sugar fails to generate the required amount of energy and growth into the cells.

3. Vision is blurred

One of the most visible and detected sign of diabetes is that the vision is blurred. If the sugar level in the body increases then it would pull the fluid from the tissues including the lenses, hence the vision is blurred in the due course. It has been seen that in due course this particular disease affects the old blood vessels causes’ new blood vessel to rise in the back of the retina. If the sugar level is maintained then such a condition can be cured and prevented. There are cases where diabetes has led to blindness. So this sign should not be neglected at all.

4. Infections and slow healing sores

It has often been seen that diabetes affects the body by helping the bad hormones to react in a negative manner and bring about infections in the body. These infections prove fatal in due course of time. Such infections should be taken care of without much delay. In women problems in the bladder and the vaginal area is seen and this is a acute problem for the women. Mostly woman suffer a lot with the raising level of infection. During diabetes or another sign of diabetes is that any sore would take more time to heal than the time taken naturally to heal. This happens because the hormones loose type ability to fight with the pathogens present. The blood sugar level affects the mechanism of the hormones inside the body a lot.

5. Neuropathy

Check this link for diabetic neuropathy

6. Red swollen and tender gums

Many problems are seen in the gums like sore gum and pockets in the gum. It have been seen that teeth becomes loose from the gum area and at times the gum start bleeding.

In this particular article, signs and symptoms of various types have been dealt differently. This is a well-researched article and hopes that now people will become aware of the signs and symptoms in a different manner.