Diabetes is a condition of Hyperglycemia ( Increase level of Glucose in Blood). Most of the times Diabetes is asymptomatic, however It is very important to diagnose diabetes as early as possible to prevent early and late complications of Diabetes. This is only possible, if you have some knowledge about common symptoms (often misspelled as "symtoms") of Diabetes Mellitus. Glucose is an important source of energy for cells of our body. Glucose enters the cells and metabolized to provide energy. How does glucose enter in cells? It enters the cells with help of Insulin. Insulin is a hormone produced by Pancreas. Suppose there is no insulin, or insulin production is decreased. Obviously, Glucose level in blood will increase and we will have a condition what we call as Diabetes Mellitus. There are many symptoms of diabetes but we will focus here on most common symptoms of Diabetes.Here is list of these symptoms. Increase Thurst Frequent urination Fatigue and weakness Blurred vision Abdominal pains Nausea and vomiting Weight loss or gain Skin infections like abscess, pimples Impotence Fluid retention (especially in legs and feet) Chronic itching Poor healing of skin wounds Decreased tolerance to cold Increase heart rate Dry scaly skin Numbness of fingers and toes Extreme hunger pangs Hot and sweaty with clammy perspiration Heart tremors and palpitations Apprehensive with no obvious reason Nervousness Disoriented, confused, inability to concentrate Frequent headaches, dizziness Mood changes How will we relate these symptoms with Diabetes. Remember, most of symptoms are directly related to higher levels of Glucose in Blood. Increase Thurst and Urination: Two symptoms that occur in many people with the disease are increased thirst and frequent urination.Increase level of glucose in blood leads to increase excretion of glucose by Kidneys. Glucose will take more and more water with it, so diabetic patient will have frequent urination which will lead to increase thurst. To quench your thirst, you drink a lot of water and other beverages, and that leads to more frequent urination. There is another condition Diabetes Insipidus, disease of pituitary gland in brain, where we also see increase thurst and urination. Extreme hunger, fatigue and weight loss Extreme hunger: Fatigue and weight loss are also related with hyperglycemia. Without insulin like Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus, or Decrease Insulin like Type 2 diabetes, Glucose can not enter in cells which is main sourse of energy for cells, so cells will lake this energy and patient will have weight loss and fatigue. Headaches, dizziness, irritability: Brain needs a constant supply of energy, if brain cells don't receive enough energy, we become tired; most tired people tend to be less tolerant and more irritable! Dry itchy skin: Normal skin cells require gamma-linolenic acid (GLA) which our body makes via a complex metabolic process. In older people and diabetics, this process is impaired and not enough GLA is produced; this results is chronic, severely dry and itchy skin and condition is aggravated by soaps, hot baths, detergents, environmental conditions; it is usually worse during the winter months and most commonly affects legs, feet, and hands but can affect other areas of the body aswell. Blurred vision Blurred vision: Well, Diabetes can also affect your eyes aswell. Again cause is High Glucose Level. High glucose in blood vessels increase process of atherosclerosis resulting in thickening of blood vessels. chronically high levels of glucose damage blood vessels in different organs of the body, usually starting with the retina of the eye and the kidneys and heart; eventually some blood vessels are lost and remaining ones become leaky which allow blood and fat to seep out of damaged blood vessels. This makes the retina bleed and swell which causes blurred vision. Over a period of years, however, diabetes can also cause new blood vessels to form in your retina of eye, as well as damage old vessels. For most people this causes only mild vision problems. But for others, the effects may be much more serious. In some cases, diabetes can also lead to blindness. Tingling/burning pain in the feet: Another important symptom of Diabetes. It may be the first symptom of diabetes. Our hands and feet are supplied by Neurons, as we said earlier that due to diabetes blood vessels become thick, similary is the case with neurons, blood supply to these neurons decreases due to thickening of blood vessels which leads to degeneration of peripheral nerve fibers (Neurons) throughout the body which commonly leads to a lack of feeling in the feet, advances up the legs and then the hands and is the most common reason for lower limb amputations. It can also be very painful. If there is Loss of motor nerve fibers it leads to muscular weakness. If there is loss of sensory nerve fibers leads to loss of feeling and numbness in hands and feet. Loss of autonomic fibers cause the loss of functions not normally under conscious control like digestion, heartbeat, blood pressure, and sweating. Neuropathy symptoms tingling, burning, aching, prickling, sharp jabs of needlelike pain can also be caused by nerves that are damaged or are healing. Slow-healing sores or frequent infections: Bacteria love high glucose, Diabetes affects your body's ability to heal and fight infection. Urinary track infections and vaginal infections can be a particular problem for women. Diagnose your diabetes as early as possible to keep yourself away from complex complications of diabetes Mellitus.
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