Diabetes and it's complication
Having high blood sugar, over a long-time, can lead to complications and affect many organs in your body. Thus, keeping a check on blood sugar levels is important.
The higher your blood sugar levels, and the longer you have diabetes, the greater is your risk of having diabetes complications. Let us look into the various complications of diabetes.
The Heart and the Brain Problems
The risk of heart disease and stroke is twice higher in diabetics than in general population. The risk is more in type 2 diabetics. The chief cause is narrowing of blood vessels.
High blood sugar accelerates deposition of lipids on the walls of the blood vessels. These deposits cause narrowing of the blood vessels and interfere with the blood flow. Over time, the deposits may completely cut off the blood supply to the organ.
If the blood vessels supplying your heart get partially or completely blocked, you may have a heart attack.
If the blood vessels supplying to the brain are involved, it can lead to stroke, where the brain cells begin to die due to inadequate blood supply
People having diabetes develop heart disease at a much younger age when compared to people who don’t have diabetes. The risk is even more if a person smokes, has high blood pressure, is obese or has a family history of stroke and heart disease. Taking steps to manage diabetes can decrease the risk of developing heart disease and stroke as well.
Early Risk of Heart Disease and Stroke
People having diabetes develop heart disease at a much younger age when compared to people who don’t have diabetes. The risk is even more if a person smokes, has high blood pressure, is obese or has a family history of stroke and heart disease. Taking steps to manage diabetes can decrease the risk of developing heart disease and stroke as well.
Warning Signs of Heart Attack
- Nausea
- Sweating
- Stomach pain
- Light-headedness
- Pain / discomfort in the chest
- Shortness of breath or gasping
- Pain in arms, jaws, neck, and back
Warning Signs of Stroke
- Difficulty in talking
- Difficulty in talking
- Sudden severe headache
- Numbness on one side of the body
- Difficulty in walking and loss of body balance
- Either trouble seeing or double vision
Silent heart attacks
Type 2 diabetes also increases the risk of ‘silent heart attacks’. A person having a silent heart attack does not experience any symptoms of heart attack or may feel mild heartburn which may be considered as a normal sign of ageing. Therefore, it is very important for diabetics to go for routine heart health checks.
Routine heart health tests:
- Blood pressure measurement
- Electrocardiogram
- Echocardiography
- Treadmill test
Tips to prevent Heart & Brain complications
Nerve related complications
Prolonged high blood sugar for a long time can cause diabetic neuropathy. In this condition, the blood vessels that supply the nerves with oxygen and other essential nutrients are damaged due to high blood sugar levels. This damages the nerves and the nerves lose their ability to transmit nerve impulses.
Damage to the nerves(neuropathy) might result in numbness, pain or tingling feeling in the legs, and arms, indigestion, diarrhoea or constipation, nausea, loss of sensation, and weakness while standing for a long time.
Neuropathy may affect the peripheral body parts like the hand, legs, toes, and feet as well as the internal organs like digestive system, heart etc.
Teeth and Gum problems
High blood sugar favours the growth of germs in the mouth. These germs start growing on your gums making it red and sore which bleed during brushing. In severe cases, your gums might pull back exposing a lengthy tooth. You may also lose your teeth eventually.
Other minor symptoms of teeth and gum problems associated with diabetes include bad breath, sensitive teeth, a different feel while biting or chewing food. Smoking worsens the incidence of teeth and gum infection.
- Brush your teeth after every meal
- Use a soft brush
- Visit your dentist regularly
- Use dental floss
Urological and
Sexual problems
Urinary tract infection is very common in diabetes affecting over 50% of diabetic patients. Diabetes may also cause bladder problems which results in frequent and sudden urge to urinate, leakage of urine without warning, and urine retention.
Sexual problems are common as people age. Having diabetes, in addition, means an early onset of such problems. Males may experience erection and ejaculation problems, and females may have vaginal dryness, painful intercourse and no sexual desire.
Diabetic ketoacidosis
Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a life-threatening condition where the body starts burning fat instead of glucose, for energy. This is due to inadequate insulin in diabetic patients. The by-product of fat breakdown is ketoacids, which gets accumulated in the body. High level of these ketoacids is dangerous.
DKA symptoms could be the first symptoms reported by patients who are undiagnosed for diabetes and it might also signal the need for insulin in already diagnosed patients. Ketoacidosis is common in patients with type-I diabetes and rare in type-II diabetes.
Symptoms of DKA:
Contact your physician in case you experience any of the symptoms of DKA. Keeping a track of urine ketones is very important along with checking your glucose level.
- Nausea
- Stomach pain
- Dryness of skin and mouth
- Frequent urination
- Rapid and deep breathing
- Stiffening of muscles