Diabetes is a disease that continues to affect millions in the US, with 1.5 million new patients being diagnosed every year. Of the 10.5% of Americans dealing with this condition, 7.3 million people don’t even realize they have it. If left untreated, diabetes can lead to many terrible complications, such as cardiovascular disease, nerve damage, kidney damage, eye damage, and Alzheimer’s disease. So, if you have diabetes and don’t realize it, you need to know what to look for. Let’s look at the symptoms of this condition and how you can be treated if you’re diagnosed.
Patients in the Little River, South Carolina area who think they have diabetes can get help from Dr. Rogers Walker and the experienced medical team at Walker Urgent & Family Care. We offer the latest technologies to treat a wide variety of conditions, including diabetes with a compassionate touch
This is a disease that affects the function of your blood glucose, a sugar the bloodstream carries throughout your body to give you energy. Blood sugar is regulated in our bodies with insulin, which is a hormone created in the pancreas. We get diabetes when there is too much sugar in our blood, and the insulin in our body is not able to properly process blood glucose. This is often linked to family history, being overweight, inactivity, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol.
Having diabetes puts you at higher risk for other conditions, such as heart attack, stroke, atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), nerve damage (diabetic neuropathy), and kidney disease.
There are different types of diabetes: gestational diabetes (when the placenta doesn’t provide enough insulin in the womb), type 1 (when your immune system attacks your insulin-producing cells), and type 2 diabetes. Here are five common symptoms:
When glucose stays in the bloodstream and doesn’t move into your cells, your body reacts as if it’s starving and rapidly burns muscle and fat to compensate.
The changes in blood glucose levels can contribute to this as well as obesity and other mental and emotional issues connected to diabetes.
Diabetes is incredibly taxing on your kidneys, which consistently work to eliminate the excess blood glucose in your urine, leading to more frequent urination.
Chronic high levels of blood glucose can lead to diabetic neuropathy, which damages the nerves that send signals to your extremities.
This is often one of the first signs of diabetes, and it can be evidence of diabetic retinopathy, which can lead to limited eyesight and even blindness.
There are several options for diabetes treatment, but most include lifestyle changes, including increased physical activity and a healthier diet (fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and whole grains). You will need to monitor your blood glucose regularly and methods like insulin therapy will help to better regulate the amount you have in your body. There are also medications that can stimulate your pancreas into creating more insulin.
Getting diabetes can be dangerous, but you can get help and keep it under control. If you think you show any signs of this condition, make an appointment with Dr. Walker and Walker Urgent & Family Care today.
