Signs and Symptoms of Diabetes

Diabetes often goes undiagnosed because many symptoms of diabetes seem so harmless. Recent studies indicate that the early detection of diabetes symptoms and treatment can decrease the chance of developing the complications of diabetes.

Although diabetes does have its typical signs and symptoms, many people do not exhibit these "typical" signs and symptoms even though they have diabetes.

Anyway, all those who complain of symptoms or show signs usually associated with diabetes should have a test for diabetes. If feasible, all persons over the age of 30 years should undergo an annual test to rule out the presence of diabetes, especially those with risk factors.

A negative test for diabetes does NOT mean that the person will never get diabetes. It only means that the person does not have diabetes at the time of testing.

Some common diabetes symptoms include:

* Frequent urination
* Excessive thirst
* Extreme hunger
* Unusual weight loss
* Increased fatigue
* Irritability
* Blurry vision

Let us look at each one individually:

Frequent urination:

You may be experiencing one of the more common symptoms of diabetes if you have noticed that you are going to the bathroom a lot more lately. Do you seem to be urinating all day long? Do you wake up several times at night to empty your bladder? When there is too much sugar in the blood, urination becomes more frequent. This is because the kidneys are overwhelmed with too much sugar and are working hard to pull extra water out of the blood to dilute the sugar in the kidneys. This extra water keeps your bladder full so you have to keep going to the bathroom.

Excessive thirst is yet another of the well-known symptoms of diabetes. If you find yourself drinking a lot more water than usual, it could be because of extra water being extracted from the blood by the kidneys. The resulting frequent urination leaves you dehydrated and thirsty with a need to drink more and more water.

Losing Weight Without Trying:

This symptom is more noticeable with Type 1 diabetes. In Type 1, the pancreas stops making insulin, for reasons not yet fully understood. At any rate, since there is no insulin around to help get glucose into the cells, the body ends up breaking down muscle and fat in order to make energy. With Type 2 diabetes, on the other hand, unintentional weight loss happens more gradually as the body becomes more resistant to the insulin it has.

This symptom of diabetes can also be blamed on the basic problem with diabetes - too much sugar in the blood. In people without diabetes, insulin is the key which lets sugar from food into the cells of the body in the form of glucose. Body cells use glucose to produce the energy we need to function. But when there is not enough insulin or the cells cannot be unlocked by it because of diabetes, then the glucose stays outside the cells in the bloodstream. The cells are thus deprived of their energy source and you end up feeling tired and weak.

This symptom of diabetes takes a while to set in. This is because it takes time for the high blood glucose to injure the nerves in the hands and feet - a condition called peripheral neuropathy. Blood sugar might have been high for several years before neuropathy is experienced. Fortunately, neuropathy is at least partly reversible once one achieves and maintains normal blood sugars.

Have you had a cut that takes a long time to heal? Is your skin very dry? Have you noticed blurring of your vision? Any of these symptoms alone might be ignored, and even together could be easily explained away, but these symptoms suggest that something may be wrong. As in the other symptoms of diabetes, these can be explained by injury caused by high levels of sugar in the blood. If you notice any of the above symptoms, you should schedule an appointment with your doctor. She will be able to do a simple blood test to determine if you have diabetes.

Complications of diabetes include

Eye Damage: Retinopathy leading to blindness.

Nerve Damage: Neuropathy leading to ulcers, amputation, impotence (erectile dysfunction or ED)

Bloood vessel damage:vasculopathyvasculopathy leading to heart disease, heart attack and stroke.