Health they say is wealth. But a lot of us, including myself don’t pay a lot of attention to our health until we find ourselves on the sick bay. At this point, we think about all the times we were up and running and how we took it for granted.
Sometimes we get the signs but just ignore it. In order to live a longer and happy life with the wealth we have acquired, we need to start paying attention to our body system.
Diabetes is a chronic, incurable disease that occurs when the body doesn’t produce any or enough insulin, leading to an excess of sugar in the blood.
The signs of diabetes are subtle but serious and while diabetes is manageable, it can shorten your life considerably. It can also up your risk of things like blindness, heart attack, and even loss of a foot.
Check out this list of signs that add up to diabetes and then do the math, a trip to the doctor may be warranted.
- Fatigue: Of course a lot of things can get us tired; probably we are not having enough sleep, or we never take a break. But if you find yourself tired especially after eating, which should make you strong instead, then you need to check yourself out. Food should give you energy, not send you straight to sleep.
- Excessive Hunger and Thirst: Are you constantly trying to put things in your mouth, even when you just finished eating about an hour ago? What happens is that the body is overwhelmed by the task of processing glucose in your bloodstream. Water is pulled out of cells to try and flush away the excess, but in the process, all the important nutrients your body needs, including the glucose itself, are lost. The result is a cycle of dehydration and hunger that eating and drinking more only perpetuates. This is from a medical report.
- Frequent Urination: If you find yourself constantly trying to use the loo. You need medical attention ASAP. Water is pulled from all available cells in your body just so it can flush the glucose out. This would cause dehydration, hence the thirst.
- Yeast Infection: The men are not exempted in this so don’t shout for joy just yet. Yeast infections most often occur in vaginal tissues, but men aren’t off the hook completely! Yeast feeds on excess sugar, which can be secreted in sweat, urine, and mucus. Therefore, yeast infections are found almost anywhere on the skin, but especially in places that tend to trap moisture. Add in a compromised immune system and yeast can be difficult to control in diabetic patients.
- Slow Healing sores: You probably cut yourself with a kitchen knife about a week ago which on a normal basis it’s supposed to heal except you are picking at it. But it just won’t go away. This is a sign you may be diabetic. Not only is your body’s system for healing compromised by its effort to expel excess glucose, but a bunch of opportunistic infections just love to feed on sugar and will take advantage of its availability.
- Unexplained Weight loss: A drastic drop in the scale no matter what you eat sounds good right? You should probably rethink that, especially if you are not working out or eating healthy. Actually, your body is failing to retrieve fuel from the food you eat and instead burning fat to survive.
- Nausea and Vomiting: When uncontrolled diabetes results in rapid weight loss, your body is burning fat at an unsustainable rate. That process creates ketones, which may build up in your blood at dangerous levels and lead to a potentially fatal condition called diabetic ketoacidosis. The ketones cause nausea and even vomiting in people with sensitive stomachs.
- Weird Smelling Breath: Halitosis, otherwise known as bad breath, is common in diabetics because they are prone to infection. Inflamed, infected gums cause bad breath and can also affect metabolism, spiking blood sugar even further. Another source of bad breath related to diabetes comes from the condition ketoacidosis. High levels of ketones in the blood are linked to a sweet, fruity odor on the breath.
These are just some of the early signs. If you are experiencing any of these, you need to go see a Doctor