Diabetes can lie undetected for several years. However, it can cause serious health dangers. These include blindness, cataract, thrombosis, and nephropathy. To avoid these consequences, it is important that prevention and treatment methods be used by the diabetic patient.
Some other side effects of having diabetes include tiredness, nausea and palpitations. Perhaps the most frequent side effects for the diabetic person include hypoglycemia, and hyperglycemia. Both these conditions are serious and warrant medical help as they can cause the diabetic patient to fall into a coma. In the long term, more serious diabetes consequences include infarction, blindness, amputation and renal diseases.
Before the discovery of insulin, type 1 diabetes was fatal. Now with the advent of insulin and other forms of treatments, sufferers of type 1 diabetes can continue to live a long and fulfilling life.
However, if diabetes is not properly managed, blindness and renal diseases can result. In addition, diabetics are more sensitive than most people to specific oral and gynecological infections because the bacteria involved in these infections like "sugar".
The feet of a diabetic person are particularly fragile and prone to problems. Wounds in diabetic people can lead to abscesses, even gangrene; this then usually leads to amputation of the infected limbs.
Chronic hyperglycemia gradually damages the small blood vessels of the kidney and the eyes as well as the nerves over a period of time especially if the patient does not take care of his diabetic condition. This can gradually cause a failing of specific organs as time goes by.
In a diabetic, certain blood vessels can become blocked. This can cause an inadequate supply of blood to certain vital organs such as the heart and lungs. Fatal consequences such as death, can happen. Also as stated previously a permanent sugar excess in the blood generates complications such as blindness, renal insufficiency and neuropathy of the legs.
Acute complications of diabetes type 1 are usually fainting or coma caused by hyperglycemia. At times, it is hard to determine if a diabetic person is hyperglycemic or hypoglycemic. One way of determination is to do smell his breath. If the sufferer is in a hyperglycemic condition, it will smell very sweet. This is due to ketones in the body being burned as fuel.
Acidic ketosis occurs when the body cannot utilize glucose to burn as fuel anymore. Sugar is unable to penetrate the cells because of an insulin absence. The cells are then attacked, causing abnormally massive degradation in ketones which are toxic waste for the human body. If left untreated, the patient can go into coma, risking premature death.
Hence it can be seen that once you are diagnosed with diabetes, it is important that you exercise proper management and care. Do not be lax about what you need to do. Consult with your physician to come up with a suitable diet, exercise and lifestyle program.
Published by Evelyn Lim on January 30, 2008 07:43 PM
