Diabetes: The Three Most Common Symptoms

Diabetes is present in 8% of people in the United States. 90-95% of the people with diabetes have Type 2 diabetes.

Diagnosis of diabetes depends on laboratory documentation of an elevated fasting blood sugar >125 mg/dl, an elevated 2-hour blood sugar of 200 mg/dl or more 2-hours after a 75 gram oral glucose tolerance test, or a random blood sugar of 200 mg/dl or more with typical diabetes symptoms.

An HA1c of 6.5% or more may also be used as another method of diagnosis. The HA1c must be obtained from a laboratory (not one of the mail-order or pharmacy self-test kits).

Before diabetes is diagnosed, many people complain of symptoms which suggest elevated blood sugar levels.

Although symptoms typically appear when blood sugar levels are greater than 200 mg/dl, there is considerable variability.

Some people notice symptoms with sugar levels in the mid-100's, while others may deny complaints even when sugar levels rise well above 200 mg/dl.

Lack of symptoms is especially common when sugar levels have been elevated for prolonged periods of time.

#1)Increased Urination

Increased frequency of urination is the most common reason that people seek medical attention for diabetes.

There is no threshold for diagnosis of increased urinary frequency. It is simply an increase from your baseline.

Increased urinary frequency may also be due to increased fluid intake, a urinary tract infection, or, less commonly an inability of your body to hold on to water.

The different causes of urinary frequency can often be diagnosed in your physician's office by obtaining a careful history and providing a urine sample.

Once blood sugar levels return to normal, urinary frequency also quickly returns to normal.

If increased urinary frequency persists in the setting of normal blood sugar levels, alternative causes need to be considered.

#2)Changes in Vision

Visual changes are another reason people seek medical attention to rule out diabetes.

Changes may include complaints of "double vision", difficulty reading printed materials or watching TV, or a significant change in prescription glasses.

Visual symptoms are due to sugar-induced changes in the shape of the lens of your eye.

Since similar complaints can be caused by eye problems not related to elevated sugars, evaluation by an opthamologist is critical.

Once sugar levels are normalized, visual complaints gradually resolve. Unlike urinary frequency, the return to normal vision may take several weeks.

#3)Numbness

Another common complaint associated with elevated blood sugars is numbness.

The numbness typically occurs in the feet, but may also involve the hands.

Characteristically, the numbness begins in the toes, then "spreads" to the feet. Numbness may later extend to the foot and mid-leg. The thigh is rarely involved.

Numbness is worse at rest (people often complain of symptoms at night when trying to go to sleep), and is almost always bilateral.

The numbness may be accompanied by severe, stabbing pains as well as extreme sensitivity to touch.

Although symptoms typically resolve soon after sugar levels have returned to normal, some people note continued complaints.

Since other nerve-related problems may cause numbness of the feet and hands, careful medical evaluation is needed. Other causes should be considered if the numbness or pain is associated with exercise, if the symptoms are one-sided, or if there is associated back pain.

Other symptoms of high blood sugar include unintentional weight loss, increased hunger, increased frequency of infections (especially vaginal yeast infections in women), slow healing of wounds and unexplained fatigue.

If you have any of these symptoms, contact your physician to schedule further evaluation.

Remember that there can be significant variability in the severity and duration of these symptoms.

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Early warning symptoms of adult onset diabetes

Early symptoms of diabetes may at any age in set. A person can be born or can it later at any time in his life to develop. If the symptoms of diabetes beginning later then it bright chances that suffers of the person concerned on type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is also called non-insulin-dependent diabetes or diabetes adultes. The symptoms of diabetes show that body which provided insulin is person use incorrectly. This situation is an increase in levels of blood sugar. If the situation can untreated then dangerous blood sugar levels harmful blood vessels and nerves begin. This situation leads to serious health complications associated.

It is extremely important that if any person warning signs diabetes setting in view he then the doctor to control blood sugar levels learn must see. If adult onset diabetes is caught once, then it easily can be detected with a little change in the way of life.

Frequent urination and excessive thirst

American Diabetes Association has stated that type 2 diabetes often begins without warning signs or signs. Very early symptoms of adult onset diabetes are so common that a person unable to combine it with a serious illness. This is the main reason that it is extremely important to monitor blood sugar levels. The earlier the diagnosis is made, the better are the chances of proper and successful treatment. When the blood glucose level rises makes the body additional attempt to reduce these values. This test makes the people feel thirsty and causes to visit him, quiet room.

Sudden weight loss and increase in appetite

High blood sugar levels makes the person feel often hungry. This is done, as the body insulin use not properly is. This also means that is body unable to digest the consumed food. The body allows no efficient transformation in Essen. This makes the people feel that he is in a constant need of food. At the same time is the body unable to convert this consumed food into fuel, so he starts to lose weight. It is extremely important not to ignore any person, the signs of diabetes. This adultes diabetes symptoms are subtle but can damage to the body for many months or even years.

Fatigue and slowly heal wounds

The body has to fight, as it always is not the required amount of energy. The person begins to feel tired and exhausted. It is true that makes today's hectic lifestyle any person tired but excessive and continuous fatigue must never be ignored. Diabetes hampered to heal the body's ability any cut or wound. Slow healing cuts and wounds are an other early warning signs diabetes.

Normal blood sugar levels and stay away from symptoms of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia

Need of to mention... I know you or someone you love has been diagnosed with diabetes. Your recent blood sugar test has indicated that you were far away from normal blood sugar levels. You are feeling like your life is over now. Will how you raise your family? Will how you run your business? And so on... There are plenty of unanswered questions roaming in your mind.

If you are going through the above scenario then let me tell you the truth; being diagnosed with diabetes does not mean that now you can't reach the stars. The truth is you can still become an engineer, politician or a successful businessman. Life is not over with diabetes. What it require is just a little bit of change in the lifestyle. If you achieve normal blood sugar level ranges then you can achieve anything.

Your health care professional can guide that how often you should check blood glucose levels. Initially you may require repeated blood glucose tests at home but after a while you'll have a better control on your diabetes and the number of blood glucose tests would be reduced. Blood glucose level testing needs a test strip and a drop of blood. The result will indicate whether your blood glucose levels are range required in the or not.

Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar)

Hypoglycemia is a condition faced by many diabetics from time to time. It is a phase of low blood sugar levels. Following are the symptoms of hypoglycemia.

· Feeling tired

· Uncontrolled yawning

· An inability to think or speak clearly

Loss of coordination of muscles ·

Twitching ·

· Seizures

Sweating excessive ·

Loss of consciousness ·

Pale · becoming excessively

· Passing out feeling of being

Doctors strongly recommend that all diabetics must carry a minimum of 15 gm of simple carbohydrates. like any candy or glucose tablet. These carbohydrates are the best source of energy that help to raise blood sugar levels. If these fast acting carbohydrates do not of seem to work within 15 minutes then it is recommended that you must take another dose of this quick snack.

India be logistics must teach their family, co workers and friends the symptoms of hypoglycemia and what can be done if a person has a hypoglycemia attack. It is also recommended to carry glucagon, in case of any emergency. It is given with the help of injection for rapidly increasing the blood glucose level. If the diabetic person is unconscious and is unable to eat or drink then the other person can raise his blood glucose levels by giving him a shot of glucagon.

Hyperglycemia (high blood sugar levels)

Hyperglycemia is the phase of increased blood sugar levels. Most diabetics have to face this stage even if they are eating according to the diabetic diet plan and exercising regularly. General causes of hyperglycemia are feeling sick or stressed or eating more than the required portion.

Following are the common symptoms of hyperglycemia

· Recurrent urge to urinate

· Extreme thirst

· Blurriness in vision

· Extreme fatigue

It is not difficult to control the symptoms of hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia. The right person only requires knowledge and quick tips to achieve normal blood sugar levels.

Do you want to learn the tips to deal with symptoms of hypoglycemia and achieve normal blood sugar levels? I have mentioned here tips and I tricks with the help of which have said "good bye" to diabetes; so you can do the same.

Diabetes Mellitus - Understanding Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

As of the year 2000, according to the World Health Organization, at least 171 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes. For at least 20 years, diabetes rates in North America have been increasing rapidly. In 2010 nearly twenty six million people have diabetes in the United States alone, and seven million people remain undiagnosed. Another fifty seven million people are estimated to have pre-diabetes. Diabetes mellitus occurs throughout the world, but is more common in the more developed countries.

The Centers for Disease Control has termed the growth in the number of diabetic patients an epidemic.The National Diabetes Information Clearing house estimates that diabetes costs $132 billion in the United States alone every year. Approximately 10% of diabetes cases in North America are type 1, with the rest being type 2. It is estimated that one in three Americans born after 2000 will develop diabetes in their lifetime.

There are three main types of diabetes:

Type 1 diabetes:results from the body's failure to produce insulin, and presently requires the person to inject insulin. (Also referred to as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, IDDM for short, and juvenile diabetes.)Type 2 diabetes:results from insulin resistance, a condition in which cells fail to use insulin properly, sometimes combined with an absolute insulin deficiency. (Formerly referred to as non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, NIDDM for short, and adult-onset diabetes.)Gestational diabetes:is when pregnant women, who have never had diabetes before, have a high blood glucose level during pregnancy. It may precede development of type 2 diabetes mellitus.

Causes: The cause of diabetes depends on the type.Insulin is the principal hormone that regulates uptake of glucose from the blood into most cells (primarily muscle and fat cells, but not central nervous system cells). Therefore deficiency of insulin or the insensitivity of its receptors plays a central role in all forms of diabetes mellitus.

Type 1 diabetes is partly inherited and then triggered by certain infections, with some evidence pointing at Coxsackie B4 virus which can trigger a reaction which results in destruction of the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas. There is a genetic element in individual susceptibility to some of these triggers which has been traced to particular the genetic "self" identifiers relied upon by the immune system. However, even in those who have inherited the susceptibility, type 1 diabetes mellitus seems to require an environmental trigger.

Humans are capable of digesting some carbohydrates, in particular those most common in food; starch, and some carbohydrates such as sucrose, are converted within a few hours to simpler forms most notably the glucose (blood sugar), the principal carbohydrate energy source used by the body. The rest are passed on for processing by gut flora (microorganisms) largely in the colon. Insulin is released into the blood by beta cells (ß-cells), found in the Islets of Langerhans (regions of the pancreas that contain its endocrine (i.e., hormone-producing) cells in the pancreas, in response to rising levels of blood glucose, typically after eating. Insulin is used by about two-thirds of the body's cells to absorb glucose from the blood for use as fuel, for conversion to other needed molecules, or for storage.

Symptoms: The classical symptoms of diabetes are polyuria(frequent urination), polydipsia (increased thirst) and polyphagia (increased hunger). Symptoms may develop rapidly (weeks or months) in type 1 diabetes while in type 2 diabetes they usually develop much more slowly and may be subtle or absent.

Prolonged high blood glucose causes glucose absorption, leads to changes in the shape of the lenses of the eyes, resulting in vision changes; sustained sensible glucose control usually returns the lens to its original shape. Blurred vision is a common complaint leading to a diabetes diagnosis; type 1 should always be suspected in cases of rapid vision change, whereas with type 2 change is generally more gradual, but should still be suspected.

The most common symptoms of diabetes mellitus are those of fluid imbalance leading to urinary frequency and dehydration. Severe dehydration causes weakness, fatigue, and mental status changes. Symptoms may come and go as plasma glucose levels fluctuate. Hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) can also cause weight loss, nausea and vomiting, and blurred vision, and it may predispose to bacterial or fungal infections.

Treatment: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease which cannot be cured except in very specific situations but as of 2011 but a lot of research is in progress. It is associated with an impaired glucose cycle that alters the patient's metabolism. Management concentrates on keeping blood sugar levels as close to normal as possible, without causing hypoglycemia (under-sweet blood). Management of this disease may include carefully managing diet, exercising, taking oral diabetes medication, using some form of insulin, and maintaining proper circulation in the extremities. The disease may be further complicated by other external factors such as stress, illness, menses, injection site scarring, and other physiological factors unique to individual patients.

Insulin is also the principal control signal for conversion of glucose to glycogen, a molecule that serves as the secondary long-term energy storage facility in liver and muscle cells. Lowered glucose levels result both in the reduced release of insulin from the beta cells and in the reverse conversion of glycogen to glucose when glucose levels fall. This is mainly controlled by the hormone glucagon which acts in the opposite manner to insulin. Glucose is forcibly produced from internal liver cell stores (as glycogen) re-enters the bloodstream. Normally liver cells do this when the level of insulin is low (which normally correlates with low levels of blood glucose).

Higher insulin levels increase some anabolic ("building up") processes such as cell growth and duplication, protein synthesis, and fat storage. Insulin (or its shortage) is the principal signal in converting many of the bidirectional processes of metabolism from a catabolic (reducing to smaller elements such as fatty acids or amino acids) to an anabolic direction, and vice versa. In particular, a low insulin level is the trigger for entering or leaving ketosis (the fat burning metabolic phase).

The Big Five Borderline Diabetes Symptoms

Borderline diabetes symptoms are easy to list because we know them, but they can also be easy to miss if you aren't looking for them.

They are the things to watch for if you think you might be prediabetic. I call them the big five because doctors mention them the most, and if you know what to watch for, they are easy to recognize. The first two are increased thirst and frequent urination.

Diabetes (the word means siphon out) has been diagnosed for thousands of years by the increased amount of urine (sweet urine, they called it), and increased thirst that go along with the disease.

Picture this. Beta cells in your pancreas are pumping out insulin, the hormone that carries glucose into cells, but the cells are resisting insulin's efforts. That's insulin resistance. It also may be that your beta cells are damaged or sick and aren't responding to the call for insulin as fast as they're supposed to.

The end result of both is too much sugar traveling in the blood, and your body responds by siphoning it out in your urine. That takes a lot of water. So you're extra thirsty, and you go to the bathroom often. If you do a urine test it will show high sugar content.

That's two of the five warning signs. Another is fatigue. If your cells are resisting insulin, they are still hungry even when there's plenty of glucose floating around. You get tired. That's three.

Blurred vision is number four. This symptom comes and goes as your blood sugar fluctuates. Eyes are very sensitive, and they can be a useful warning sign that blood sugar is not normal.

Number five is the newest one of the borderline diabetes symptoms that doctors are talking about. Are you consistently sleeping less than six hours a night? High blood sugar might be the reason you aren't sleeping well.

There they are, the big five:

Excessive urinationIncreased thirstFatigueBlurred visionSleeping 5-1/2 hours or less a night

But wait, just because you have not noticed any of these borderline diabetic symptoms, that does not mean you're free of prediabetes. There is another list you need to look at. The more things you find on this list that fit you, the more likely you'll find yourself a prediabetic.

Is your BMI (body mass index) over 25, a lot over? Is your exercise level little to none? That means you're sedentary and overweight - two of the four symptoms in the metabolic syndrome, the biggest cause of insulin resistance. If you have high triglycerides and high blood pressure, that's the other two symptoms. If you have all four, you have the whole metabolic syndrome.

Are you over 45? Does a parent, grandparent, aunt or uncle have type 2 diabetes? That increases your risk by half again. Women with polycystic ovarian syndrome or who have had gestational diabetes during a pregnancy are on this list too.

Genetic risk factors have to be faced. If your racial origins include native American, black, Hispanic, or Asian roots, you're twice as likely to develop type 2 diabetes, so just being over 45 and in one of those groups means you ought to get your blood sugar tested every year whether you have borderline diabetes symptoms or not.

What Does It Matter?

It matters because if you find out you are prediabetic there are steps you can take, things you can do to lower your blood sugar and put off, sometimes forever, becoming a type 2 diabetic. You can't do anything about genetics, family history and age, but you can end the metabolic syndrome and lower your insulin resistance. A lower body mass index (it doesn't have to be perfect, just lower), increased exercise and some diet adjustments might do the trick. For a lot of people those things are enough.

The key to all this is to find out if you are borderline diabetic, and the only way to really be sure is to get your blood sugar tested. Get the hemoglobin A1c, or a fasting blood test, or better yet the glucose tolerance test, and find out where you are. Understanding the borderline diabetic symptoms can help, but nothing beats seeing the numbers and knowing for sure.

Don't let the diabetic tidal wave knock you off your feet and carry you away. Heed the warnings and do the wise things. Ignorance is not bliss, it's just dumb. I can say that because I already tried it.

Martha Zimmer invites you to visit her website and learn more about type 2 diabetes, its complications and how you can deal with them, as well as great tips for eating healthy that will make living with diabetes less painful.