Five Telltale Signs That Diabetes Is On The Prowl

By Julia Hanf in Diabetes on January 31st, 2008

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by Julia Hanf

Diabetes can be loosely termed as a condition where the amount of glucose in your blood rises to dangerously high levels, either because your body isn’t making the amount of insulin it needs to metabolize the glucose or if it does not acknowledge the presence of insulin and is thus unable to use the glucose as energy. This glucose, which then accumulates in your blood, is responsible for a gamut of complications, some of which can even be life-threatening. However, what makes diabetes one of the most threatening of all diseases is the fact that its initial stages are very hard to detect, leading victims to ignore them until the more severe conditions set in. and although there is no foolproof sign to determine if you have diabetes or not, without submitting to a laboratory test, there are a few initial indicators that characterize diabetes, and the fact that it is on the prowl!

The glucose, which remains unused by your body, accumulates in the bloodstream, making the blood-sugar levels rise to alarming levels. Your kidneys then try to strain out the glucose from your blood and discard it, which they do by diluting it with a large amount of water, which is then excreted in the form of urine. The large amounts of water and unwaveringly high levels of glucose mean that the amount of urine produced is a lot higher than is usual, and so, you will find that you need to urinate almost all through the day.

The excessively high amounts of urine your body produces, depletes the fluid content in your body, making it parched and dehydrated. And so, you will feel a lot more thirsty than usual, forcing you to drink large quantities of water, which diabetes expels from your body as urine. This pattern of thirst and urination continues, and becomes increasingly severe as diabetes develops into its secondary phases.

When your body’s glucose utilizing capacity decreases, the cells in your body are starved of the energy they depend on the glucose for. And hence, even though you aren’t eating any less than you are accustomed to, you will still find that you feel lightheaded, faint and giddy. Although this is one of the most easily discernable signs of diabetes, this is also the most easily misunderstood. Many people account this weakness to fatigue and try to rest it away, which lets the disease continue on its silent path.

The high-levels of sugar in your blood are particularly damaging to the nerves in your body, bringing about a feeling of numbness or a loss of sensation over a period of time. This damage particularly afflicts the extremities of your body, namely your fingers and feet, and increases as the levels of glucose continue to rise unchecked a condition termed as Diabetic Neuropathy.

Diabetes is also responsible for the thickening of veins in your body, which hampers the process of blood circulation. Subsequently, any cuts and wounds you develop during this stage will take a lot longer to heal. Also, these wounds will be more susceptible to infection, given the high glucose content of the blood which encourages fungi and bacteria to develop.

These conditions, which are collectively termed as Pre-Diabetes, are unpredictable in terms of how rapidly they develop into full-blown diabetes. In certain individuals, the pre-diabetic phase lasts for years, culminating into diabetes only once the individual is well into his middle, or later years. In some others, the pre-diabetic phase can last for as little as a couple of months before diabetes sets in, with its own host of complications. If you find that you have been experiencing any such symptoms, don’t wait for them to become more exacerbated before you contact your physician. If well-controlled, pre-diabetes can remain in its nascent phases all your life and never pose an intimidating threat for you to cow away from. Open your mind to diabetes today refusing to do so may only make you one of its next victims!

About the Author:

Julia Hanf author of the book How To Play the Diabetes Diet Game and Win Through a real life crisis Julia figured out how to live diabetes free. Visit www.yourdiabetescure.com and learn more about your solution for diabetes.