What are the early signs of diabetes?

Diabetes is a metabolic disorder that occurs when your blood sugar is too high. Read on to know the early signs of diabetes.

Early diabetes symptoms

Listed below are the early diabetes symptoms.

• Recurrent urination: When blood sugar levels are high, your kidneys try to remove the excess sugar by filtering it out of the blood. This can lead to needing to urinate more recurrently, mainly at night.
• Excessive thirst: The frequent urination that is necessary to remove excess sugar from the blood can result in the body losing additional water. Over time, this can cause dehydration and lead to feeling more thirsty than usual.
• Increased hunger: If you’ve diabetes, you often do not get enough energy from the food you eat. Your digestive system breaks food down into a simple sugar called glucose which the body uses as fuel. If you’ve diabetes, not enough of this glucose moves from the bloodstream into the body’s cells. As a result, people with diabetes often feel constantly hungry, regardless of how recently they have eaten.
• Fatigue: Diabetes can impact on a person’s energy levels and cause them to feel very tired or fatigued. This tiredness happens as a result of inadequate sugar moving from the bloodstream into the body’s cells.
• Blurred vision: An excess of sugar in the blood can damage the tiny blood vessels in the eyes, which can cause blurred vision. This blurred vision can occur in one or both of the eyes and may come and go. If you’ve diabetes and live on without seeking diabetes treatment, the damage to these blood vessels can become more severe and permanent vision loss might eventually occur.
• Slow-healing wounds: High levels of sugar in the blood can damage the body’s nerves and blood vessels which can impair blood circulation. Consequently, even small cuts and wounds might take weeks or months to heal. Slow-healing wounds also increase the risk of infection.
• Skin infections: Excess sugar in the blood and urine provides food for yeast which can lead to skin infections. Yeast infections tend to occur in warm, moist areas of the skin, such as the mouth, genital areas, and armpits. The affected areas are usually itchy, but you might also experience burning, redness, and soreness.
• Darkening of skin in areas of body creases: Patches of dark skin forming on the creases of the neck, armpit, or groin can also signify a higher risk of diabetes. These patches may feel very soft and velvety.
• Tingling or numbness in the hands or feet: High blood sugar levels can affect blood circulation and damage the body’s nerves. In people with diabetes, this can lead to pain or a sensation of tingling or numbness in the hands and feet. This condition is known as neuropathy. It can worsen over time and even lead to more serious complications if a person does not seek diabetes treatment.

Read More: Are you at the risk for diabetes? Let's understand its signs.

Risk factors for diabetes

Risk factors for developing diabetes include the following.

• An unhealthy diet with high-calorie content comprising sugars
• Ethnicity
• Excess alcohol intake
• Family history
• Fat distribution
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Lack of sleep
• Obesity
• Sedentary lifestyle
• Smoking

Long-term health complications of diabetes

Long-term diabetes-related complications include the following.

• High blood pressure
• Heart disease
• Nerve damage and neuropathy
• Kidney disease
• Retinopathy
• Stroke
• Skin infections
• Peripheral vascular disease
• Yeast infections

Conclusion

Anyone who experiences possible diabetes symptoms should book an appointment with your homeopath, especially if they have other risk factors for developing this condition. The early detection and diabetes treatment can improve a person's quality of life and reduce the risk of severe complications.