Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to convert sugar, starch and food into energy needed for daily life.
Early symptoms of diabetes may include the following:
Frequent urination at bedtime
Extreme thirst
Extreme hunger with unexplained weight loss and unusual tiredness or drowsiness
Sores or bruises slowly heal
Dry and itchy skin
Unexplained weight loss
Blurry vision that changes from day to day
Tingling or numbness of the hands or feet
Frequent or recurring infections of the skin, gum, bladder or the female organ
Complications can be both acute or short-term and chronic or long-term. Short-term complication is changed mainly by imbalance of sugar level. If the sugar level is too high, then there is hyperglycemia which if it is left untreated can lead to coma and even death. If the sugar is too low, then there is hypoglycemia. This can be dangerous and needs to be immediately given attention and treated.
The causes of hyperglycemia are:
Undiagnosed diabet
Insufficient medication
Inappropriate diet
Illness
Change in exercise habits
The causes of hypoglycemia are:
Insufficient intake
Too much insulin
Exercise
Diabetics on diet alone or with just Metformin and/or Acarbosem, etc.
Long-term complications involve good diabetic control, as well as control of blood pressure and cholesterol reducing the long term consequences of being diabetic. These are:
