SIGNS of diabetes: The great SUGAR fight

DIABETES can be so sneaky that most people don't even know they have it until the signs are too obvious to ignore.  Actor Tom Hanks, famous for his roles in blockbusters such as The Da Vinci Code, Saving Private Ryan and Forrest Gump, revealed recently that he has the condition.

In many cases, people tend to attribute certain symptoms, especially a feeling of constant tiredness to lack of rest, stress, overwork or old age.

Ignoring the symptoms over the long-term could cause permanent damage and lead to a more serious diabetic condition, with more health complications affecting other organs such as the heart, eyes and kidneys.

There are two types of diabetes — Type 1 and Type 2. It is estimated that around 90 per cent of people who suffer from diabetes, are of Type 2. It's a popular misconception that Type 2 is less serious possibly because people suffering from Type 1 have to inject themselves with insulin.

In Type 1, the body is not producing insulin while in Type 2 the cells are not responding properly to the insulin and/or there is not enough insulin being produced. Both types are serious if not managed well.

SYMPTOMS

Here are 10 general symptoms of diabetes that you can look out for. Not everyone will experience the symptoms and they are usually not severe in those who do get them. Many people have Type 2 for years without realising it as the early symptoms can be mild.

Doctors can do a simple test to assess your risk of diabetes. The results can give you an indication of how at risk are you. Then, you can make adjustments to your lifestyle before it's too late.

1. High blood sugar level

The best way to check your blood sugar level is to have it tested by your doctor. After you consume food, the level of blood sugar will naturally rise.
However, a persistently high level is abnormal especially if there is no constant eating throughout the day.

2. Excessive thirst and increased urination at night

Very frequent visits to the bathroom followed by excessive thirst at night could be a symptom of diabetes. The excessive thirst exists despite having drank enough water before sleeping.
When there is too much glucose in your blood, your kidneys go into overdrive mode — working harder to get rid of that extra sugar.

This forces you to want to urinate, sometimes several times during the night. After that your body loses water and makes you even thirstier.
It is your body's way of managing high blood sugar. The excessive thirst means that your body is trying to replenish the lost fluids.

3. Sudden rapid weight loss

Very high blood sugar levels can cause rapid weight loss of about 2-3 kg over two or three months. Some people may rejoice over this but it is not a healthy weight loss. Since the insulin hormone isn’t getting glucose into the cells where it can be used as energy, the body thinks it's starving and starts breaking down fats from the muscles as an alternate source of fuel.

This causes the production of exhaust ketones and leads to the diabetic feeling generally unwell. The kidneys start to work overtime to eliminate the excess sugar, causing stress to the kidneys and harm to the organ in the long-term.

4. Bad hunger pangs

When a diabetic lacks insulin or does not respond normally to insulin in the body, glucose cannot be processed by the body as usual, causing the blood sugar levels to sometimes drop.
When the blood sugar levels drop suddenly, the body thinks that you are starving and craves for more glucose that the cells need to function. This signal is interpreted by the body as hunger pangs.

5. Slow-healing wounds

This is a classic sign of diabetes. It happens because the blood vessels are being damaged by the excessive amounts of glucose travelling in the veins and the arteries. This makes it hard for blood, which is needed to facilitate healing, to reach the different areas of the body.

6. Fatigue and irritability

The extra effort your body is expending to compensate for its glucose deficiency will make you tired. Getting up to go to the bathroom several times during the night will also make you tired because it interrupts your sleep. Naturally, being tired all the time would make anyone irritable.

When people have been suffering this for a prolonged period, they can get used to chronically not feeling well and  assume that it is nothing unusual.

7. Prone to yeast infections (men and women)

Women, in particular, need to watch out for vaginal candida infections. Diabetes is considered an immunosuppressed state. It means heightened susceptibility to a variety of infections, the most common being yeast (candida) and other fungal infections. Fungi and bacteria thrive in sugar-rich environments.

As for men, the yeast infection tends to affect those who are uncircumcised at the tip of the penis or at the foreskin. Consequently, the tissue on the penis becomes scarred and erection becomes painful.

8. Blurry vision

When the glucose in the blood is high, it changes the shape of the lens and the eye, causing blurry vision.
The good news is that this symptom is reversible once the blood sugar levels return to normal or near normal. High blood sugar, unchecked for long periods, will cause permanent damage, possibly even blindness.

9. Sensations on hands and feet

Tingling, numbness, burning pain or swelling in hands and feet: These are signs that the nerves are being damaged by diabetes. Similarly with vision, if the blood sugar levels are allowed to run rampant for too long, nerve damage (neuropathy) will be permanent.

10. Irritable skin

This could be a warning sign of diabetes as are other skin conditions such as acanthosis nigricans. It is a darkening of the skin around the neck or the armpit area. People who have this will already experience an insulin-resistance process even though their blood sugar may not be high.

The writer is consultant endocrinologist at Tropicana Medical Centre.

Excessive thirst at night could be a symptom of diabetes.

NST