Diabetes is a serious medical condition characterized by high blood sugar levels for which no cure currently exists. The good news is identifying early symptoms of diabetes and making the necessary changes to your lifestyle may help prevent the progression of the disease allowing you to effectively manage your condition. Here are some early symptoms of diabetes to watch out for:
- Frequent Urination: When your kidneys are unable to filter out all the excess sugar from your blood, it is excreted through your urine pulling along fluid from your tissues resulting in frequent urination.
- Extreme Thirst: Due to frequent urination, you will experience dehydration and thirst. The more water you drink, the more you will urinate and thus you will be thirsty all the time.
- Tiredness: Diabetes alters your body’s ability to transfer sugar from your blood into your cells to be used as energy causing you to experience fatigue, lethargy, and tiredness.
- Weight Loss: As the sugar from the food you eat is not transferred to your cells, but excreted through your urine, you will experience unintentional weight loss.
- Blurring Vision: High concentration of sugar in your blood pulls out the fluid from your eye lenses and causing vision focusing problems.
- Slow-Healing Sores or Cuts: A higher-than-normal blood sugar level increases blood thickness and slows blood circulation. Over time, this results nerve damage and delayed healing of wounds, especially in the hands and feet.
- Frequent Infections: The excess sugar in your blood stream creates an environment that inhibits your immune system while causing bacteria to thrive. As a result, you are more prone to infections.
The above-mentioned symptoms may be mild when you first notice them, but they’re definitively worth investigating if you suspect either you or your loved ones may be developing diabetes. Contact your doctor for more information.
