In year 2030, the World Health Organization projects that diabetes will be the 7th leading cause of death in the world. In fact, in 2012 alone, it is estimated that 1.5 million people died because of diabetes. With the increasing number of deaths due to diabetes, it is a must that we guard ourselves from it by being aware of different diabetes symptoms.
Diabetes occurs when the pancreas poorly produces insulin, or when our body cannot properly utilize the insulin that it produces. This results to an increase of glucose in the blood known as hyperglycemia. The two major types of diabetes are:
1.Type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent diabetes). This develops when the body lacks insulin production.
2.Type 2 diabetes (non-insulin-dependent). This develops when the body poorly utilizes insulin; normally caused by physical inactivity and body weight.
What are the early symptoms of diabetes?
Diabetes symptoms may or may not be noticed depending on what type it is. There are some cases where people found out that they are diabetic after it had done so much damage in their body. Thus, it is important that we are conscious and aware of what we feel in our body that might be related to diabetes. Here are the most common and early diabetes symptoms:
- Thirstiness and frequent urination. High level of blood sugar in the body increases urine production which causes you to urinate more often than usual. This leads to dehydration and increased thirst.
- Extreme hunger. With diabetes, the body experiences difficulty in getting glucose into cells which in turn increases the need for food intake.
- Weight loss. Despite eating a lot, a person with diabetes looses weight because of the inability of the body to consume glucose. In effect, the body utilizes alternative fuels in muscles and fat resulting to weight loss.
- Blurred vision. Most people would consider blurred vision as a direct eye problem. In some cases this can be attributed to diabetes. High blood sugar level develops swollen eye lenses that can affect your ability to see.
- Fatigue. With cells lacking glucose or sugar, you will experience tiredness or extreme exhaustion.
- Sores that slowly heal. Blood circulation is essential to skin or wound repair. This process affected by diabetes causes wounds or soreness to slowly heal.
- Patches of darkened skin in armpits and neck. Some people with type 2 diabetes may have darkened skin. This condition may be a sign of resistance from insulin.
What are the unique diabetes symptoms in men and women?
Whether you are a male or a female, diabetes can affect you. Generally, diabetes symptoms are the same in men and women. However, there are some diabetes symptoms that are for each gender.
Diabetes symptoms unique to men are:
- Low strength due to muscle loss. High blood sugar level causes your body to utilize and breakdown muscles and fat resulting to unexplained weight loss. As an effect, men’s body strength drops.
- Persistent genital thrush. Excessive blood sugar affects the urine resulting to yeast infection or genital thrush. This is characterized by redness, swelling, and itching around the penis head. Other symptoms of genital thrush are unpleasant odor, soreness during intercourse, and white, curd-like appearance on the skin.
- Erectile dysfunction. High blood sugar level can cause low blood supply to the penis or can cause damage to nerves in the penis which result to erection difficulty.
Diabetes symptoms unique to women are:
- Vaginal yeast infection. An infection caused by sugar in the urine.
- Female sexual dysfunction. High blood sugar level in a woman’s body bring several changes to it causing lack of sexual intimacy.
- Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Evidence shows that the lack of insulin causes an increase in the androgen level which can result or worsen PCOS. Common symptoms of PCOS are abnormal menstrual cycle, no or irregular painful period, and inability to get pregnant.
- Urinary tract infection. High blood sugar level result to sugar in the urine which may highly develop infection. This can lead to UTI which is common to women with diabetes.
What is juvenile diabetes and its symptoms?
Juvenile diabetes is commonly known as Type 1 diabetes. This is commonly diagnosed in children and young adults. In this case, the body’s immune system, which is responsible in destroying harmful bacteria and viruses, mistakenly targets and destroys the pancreas’ insulin-producing cells. As a result, the body is poorly producing insulin.
Unlike the type 2 diabetes, Type 1 diabetic symptoms show up early. The most common type 1 diabetes symptoms are:
- Frequent Urination
- Bed-wetting for kids who previously didn’t wet the bed during the night
- Unquenchable thirst and dryness of mouth and throat
- Increased hunger
- Mood swings and irritability
- Weight loss
- Fatigue or extreme exhaustion
- Blurry vision
- Vaginal yeast infection for female
Awareness of these common symptoms of juvenile diabetes can help you detect and prevent serious and further complications. If your child shows these symptoms, it is a must to consult a doctor that can evaluate and screen the child. There are several tests that can be recommended by your doctor. Here are the most common screening tests for juvenile diabetes.
Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c). This test determines the average blood sugar level over the past two to four months. A result of 6.5% HbA1c or higher indicates that a person has diabetes.
Random blood sugar test. Blood sample will be taken at a random time to measure sugar level. If it measures 200 milligrams per deciliter or higher, it means that the person has diabetes.
Medication and other means of control and prevention will be advised by your doctor after confirming the results from the screening tests conducted.
What is gestational diabetes and its symptoms?
Another type of diabetes which is common to women is gestational diabetes. Gestational diabetes is a condition where there is an increase of blood sugar in the body during pregnancy. Gestational diabetes symptoms are unnoticeable in most cases. Pregnant women, most of the time think that these symptoms are just mere physical changes normally caused by pregnancy. To keep you and your baby safe, awareness of all the symptoms of gestational diabetes is very important.
Here are the most common signs and symptoms of gestational diabetes:
1.Blurred vision. Not all blurred vision is caused by a serious eye problem. In most pregnant women, blurry vision may occur because of gestational diabetes. High blood sugar level develops swollen eye lenses that can affect your ability to see.
2.Tingling or numbness in the hands and/or feet. Damaged nerves and poor blood circulation can cause numbness and prickling sensation in the hands and/or feet.
3.Frequent urination. Excess glucose when detected, the kidney reacts flushing it out from the blood which results to more urine production. Thus, the need to urinate is more frequent than usual.
4.Excessive thirst. As a result of frequent urination, you may experience dehydration which leads to dry mouth and unquenchable thirst.
5.Sores that heal slowly. High levels of glucose can affect the nerves resulting to poor blood circulation which is vital in wound or skin repair.
6.Excess fatigue. Lethargy or extreme tiredness happens when an imbalance of the amount of insulin circulation and blood glucose level occurs. Pregnant women with high blood sugar level may experience excess fatigue during the day, despite having good sleep.
7.Increased hunger. When the body is having difficulty getting glucose from the blood into the cells, the need for food intake will intensify.
Detection and Prevention
In most pregnant women, gestational diabetes symptoms do not manifest. Thus, if you plan to have a baby, it is important to see a doctor who can evaluate the risk of having one and prevent it as part of prenatal care. Based on your doctor’s evaluation, you will be advised to undergo screening test. If you are at high risk of gestational diabetes, you’ll be likely to get tested in your first prenatal visit while if at average risk, test may be conducted on your 24 and 28 weeks of pregnancy. The two types of screening tests are:
Initial glucose challenge test. Blood test will be conducted after an hour of taking syrup which contains 50 grams of sugar. If high blood sugar is detected, you doctor will recommend OGTT which is the second test.
Oral Glucose Tolerance Test (OGTT). Fasting for at least 8 hours is required for this test. Syrup with 100 grams of sugar will also be taken 3 hours before blood testing.
If confirmed with gestational diabetes, your doctor will likely advise frequent checkups especially during the last 3 months of pregnancy. Aside from medication and gestational diabetes diet, taking insulin might also be advised if difficulty in controlling your blood sugar occurs. Even though gestational diabetes normally fades few weeks after delivery, it is highly essential to monitor blood sugar level since there are cases where it can develop to type 2 diabetes.
Gestational diabetes symptoms, if observed during pregnancy, should be addressed promptly. Consulting a doctor should always be a priority, as it may lead to a severe situation that could endanger you and the life you carry.
Feline and canine diabetes and their symptoms
Diabetes is not only limited to humans. For cat and dog owners, your beloved pets might be showing diabetes symptoms too without you noticing it. Here are some information that might help you out.
Feline diabetes is a condition that occurs when a cat’s body either does not produce or does not properly use insulin. Insulin deficiency in a cat’s body disrupts the proper distribution of glucose into the cells which will then affect your pet’s energy. Feline diabetes symptoms will follow such as:
- Extreme appetite
- Weight loss
- Frequent urination
- Increased water intake
These diabetes symptoms in cats, if left untreated, could result to a fatal condition called ketoacidosis characterized by vomiting, diarrhea, weakness, dehydration, and abnormalities in breathing. If this diabetes symptoms are observed, do not hesitate to bring your cat to a veterinarian for further consultation and testing as this condition might put the life of your cat in danger.
Based on the diagnoses, proper treatment will be applied. For cats with ketoacidosis, intensive care is promptly needed which include injection of short-acting insulin and fluid therapy. For those which are not in severe condition, here are some treatment plans that the veterinarian may recommend.
1.Insulin. Cats with feline diabetes normally requires insulin injection daily. This can be done at home the same time every day. The daily dose and the proper way of administering insulin will also be advised by your veterinarian as each case varies depending on the need of the cat.
2.Oral Hypoglycemic Medication. Glipizide is a common orally hypoglycemic medication given to otherwise healthy diabetic cats to lower blood sugar. It is advised that cats taking glipizide be regularly checked to make sure that it is working effectively.
3.Diet. The food intake and consumption of your cat plays a big role in freeing it from diabetes. A diet plan may be recommended by your veterinarian to reduce your cat’s blood sugar.
On the other hand, Canine diabetes is a term used for dog with diabetes. There are two types of canine diabetes as identified by the United Kingdom’s Royal Veterinary College. These are:
1.Insulin-deficiency diabetes. Dog’s body’s inability to retain beta cells and to produce enough insulin that controls blood sugar level. This condition may be caused by inflamed pancreas, genetic defects, and/or immune attack.
2.Insulin-resistance diabetes. Something is blocking the dog’s insulin from working properly. It could be due to pregnancy, endocrine disease, or medication that has steroids or progesterone-like hormones.
Canine diabetes symptoms also include increased hunger, weight loss, and frequent urination.
Knowing is half the battle!
Being aware of all these diabetes symptoms in human and animals will help a lot in the prevention and control of diabetes. Thus, it is essential that you keenly observe these symptoms of diabetes to avoid further complications. Experts also recommend that if these diabetes symptoms are noticed, consulting your doctor is always the best way to go.