Diabetes Signs

Diabetes is a serious disease because of its harmful effects and because half the people who have it don’t even know it. According to the American Diabetes Association, 16 million Americans have the disease. It can lead to blindness heart attack, stroke, kidney failure and amputations. In the extreme, it can even result in death. Every year nearly 170,000 Americans die from diabetes.

Diabetes is now becoming increasingly widespread across both adults and children. A lot of this is down to obesity and the vast amounts of sugar and refined white flour that is in our diet these days, but how do we know if we have diabetes and what are the signs of diabetes we need to look out for?

The first thing we need to understand is that there are two types of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas doesn’t produce enough insulin, and type 2 when the body’s cells don’t respond well to insulin. Both result in high blood sugar levels because the body is unable to process the available glucose.

The signs can be very similar in both type 1 & 2 due to the drop in blood sugar levels. This could be down to a lack of insulin production, no production at all or simply, insulin resistance.

The classic first signs of diabetes as listed by the American Diabetes Association include:

1. Urination Frequency – High blood sugar levels increases the amount of blood that flows through the kidneys, resulting in an increase in urine levels.

2. Extreme Thirst – Dehydration caused by the increased urinary output results in the diabetic drinking large amounts of water.

3. Feeling of Being Hungry all the Time – Insulin is the primary hormone that transports glucose from the blood stream and into the cells. Glucose is the primary source of cellular energy. Because diabetes is an absence of insulin or the inability of insulin to do its job (insulin resistance) the cells do not receive the glucose they need which results in hunger pains.

4. Weight Loss – This happens despite the fact that the diabetic is eating more. Again this has to do with the perceived energy shortage. The human body will begin to cannibalize itself, breaking down lean muscle mass to provide the cellular energy it thinks needs.

5. Fatigue – Feelings of being tired all the time are caused by the decrease in cellular energy levels.

6. Depression and Irritability.

7. Eye Problems – High blood glucose levels cause in increase in blood volume which can cause the lens of the eye to swell.

Warning signs of diabetes should definitely not be ignored. It is a fact that today, up to 20 million Americans suffers from diabetes. If feeling something out of the ordinary and you think that it might be diabetes, better consult your doctor before it becomes too late.

The sooner you act on these first signs of diabetes the better your chances of being properly diagnosed. This is important because while diabetes does not have a cure it can be successfully managed with a healthy diet, exercise, and medication. Proper management is the key to minimizing the complication it causes and living a long and healthy life.

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