Diagnosis of Diabetes: The Common Diabetes Symptoms

A diagnosis of diabetes can be frightening. Could you be one of the 7 million people in the United States who are oblivious to the fact that they have diabetes? It may sound surprising that you could be living with a potentially life-threatening disease – diabetes can, after all, knock up to 20 years off someone’s lifespan thanks to the increased risk of heart disease and kidney failure that it carries – and not know about it, but it ‘ a hard fact. Although the symptoms of type 1 diabetes – where the body stops producing insulin altogether – come on very suddenly, often within a matter of days and are difficult to ignore, type 2 diabetes tends to progress gradually and the signs may simply be put down to the aging process. While both forms of diabetes tend to present with the same symptoms, it’s generally their severity and speed of onset, which allows them to be differentiated. Here we look at five symptoms that you should never ignore taken from a diabetes book. These are classic signs of diabetes.

Diagnosis of Diabetes: Increased Thirst

You could easily think excessive thirst was due to hot weather, being more active, or eating something salty. However, it’s unlikely to be persistent for any of these reasons. If you find that you feel thirsty all the time and this isn’t relieved on taking a drink, it could well be a sign of diabetes. Increased thirst occurs, as by the process of the kidneys extracting excess sugar from the blood, it triggers the centers in the brain that encourage you to drink more.

Diagnosis of Diabetes: Increased Urination

Usually, increased thirst and urination occur together in diabetes. Although it often is the case that as we get older, we do need to pass urine more often, there can be a medical cause for this. Particularly if increased frequency of urination is during the night, this points to diabetes. To help remove excess sugar from the body, extra water is drawn from the tissues to help dilute this, which results in visiting the toilet more often.

Diagnosis of Diabetes: Tired All The Time

We all lead busy lives; when we’re not at work, we’re looking after our family, running errands, or with friends. We assume that’s why we’re so tired. Feeling tired is another common symptom of diabetes. It occurs due to the lack of insulin, the body is unable to process sugars to use as an energy source, which can leave us flagging after we’ve eaten well or had a good sleep.

Diagnosis of Diabetes: Weight Loss

If we’re overweight, we might see losing weight without trying as a good thing; it’s surely every dieter’s dream? This can be another sign that the body is not processing sugars, so is unable to meet our calorie requirement for our basic functions let alone for all the activities we do. The body therefore turns to our fat reserves for a substitute energy source, so as a consequence the pounds start dropping off. If allowed to progress, the body may try to convert the protein in our muscles into an energy source, which can result in muscle wasting.

Diagnosis of Diabetes: Blurred Vision

If you’re struggling to focus on objects and you already wear glasses, it could be a sign that you need a new Phentermine prescription; if you don’t, then you wonder whether you finally need glasses. However, if you take a trip to the optician, you may find that you’re not leaving with some new glasses. Instead, you come away with a note to your doctor advising that they strongly suspect you have diabetes; if you have undiagnosed diabetes a look at the back of your eye during an examination will quickly raise concerns. The higher-than-normal blood sugar levels in diabetes draws water out of the eye, making them drier and more difficult for the lens to focus.

If you have any of these symptoms which you can’t account for, it is essential that you go for a checkup with your doctor. Whether they ‘e the result of diabetes or another medical condition, it’s important that the cause be determined. As is the case with most diseases, with diabetes, the sooner you start treatment, the quicker you will start to feel better and the greater the chance of preventing its associated complications.

Lisa writes health and fitness articles and guides for a UK health news site.