Have You Found Out How Does Diabetes Affect Your Body In The Long Term
If you have recently been diagnosed with diabetes then you are probably concerned as to, how does diabetes affect your body. The long term effects of the disease can be very serious but that does not need to worry you as they can all be avoided. Good management of diabetes and testing for side effects can prevent all associated complications.
Type 1 diabetes normally starts early in life before thirty years old. It occurs because the body of the sufferer I unable to produce insulin. The person then has to take a form of insulin to control the symptoms which can be quite severe. There is also type 2 diabetes which starts later in life and results when insulin production slows down. This can often be controlled by a special diet which is low in sugar.
Indicators of diabetes include; mood swings, fatigue, hunger, more thirst, increased urination, weight loss, blurred vision and being more susceptible to infections. With type 1 these symptoms may get worse more quickly.
There are many ways in which diabetes can affect your body and some are very serious. Diabetics can have problems with the heart, kidneys, eyes and circulation. Most result from damage caused to the blood vessels and nerves by the sugar in the blood. Cardio vascular and heart disease rates are higher among diabetics than the rest of the population. This happens when the blood vessels become blocked. Eventually this can cause problems with circulation. Amputation of the lower limbs occurs among diabetics as circulation gets worse and nerve damage lowers sensation.
You may find that diabetes affects your vision. This happens when the vessels which carry blood to the retina become leaky. They grown weaker and weaker over time and this can result in a disorder called retinopathy which can cause blindness. There are treatments available for this so it is recommended by most doctors that diabetics have regular eye tests. If you are older you should also watch out for glaucoma and cataracts.
Kidney problems take place when the vessels leading in and out of the kidneys begin to leak. This means that kidney function lowers and eventually stops. The sufferer will then have to have dialysis and a transplant.
Reading this may be quite scary if you have diabetes but it is important to know the affects the disease has on your body so that you can stop them. There are simple tests for each problem so that if you take these regularly any problems can be found in time to treat them. For example, kidney function tests just involve analysis of urine. This is a cheap, easy and quick way of making sure you do not need to have life saving surgery. It is the same for the eyes which just need to be examined annually. Controlling the disease is the best way of making sure these things do not happen. Normal blood sugar levels do not cause damage so it is important that you test your levels regularly and see your doctor if you cannot keep them down.
When it comes to the question of how does diabetes affect your body. The answer is, in many ways. Some of the complications associated with the problems caused by high blood sugar levels are very serious. The good news is that they can be prevented with careful monitoring and keeping blood sugar low.
Looking for more information on how diabetes affect your body ? Get the inside scoop on blood sugar chart in our comprehensive blood sugar levels chart guide.