10 Common Diabetes Symptoms

When we eat, our body takes the food we've ingested and breaks it down into glucose and the other nutrients it needs to survive. Naturally, our glucose levels rise after we eat. This signals the pancreas to produce more insulin. People who have diabetes can't produce insulin or can't properly use it.

But, how are you supposed to know if you aren't producing insulin? It's not like you can call down to your pancreas and say "hey, everything good in there" and it will magically call back "yep, we're good... just busy producing insulin."

The best thing you can do is know what to look for. But, keep in mind that symptoms of diabetes aren't always obvious. There aren't always red flags. Sometimes symptoms can take a really long time to develop. Sometimes there aren't any symptoms. (I know, that's not what you want to hear.) Also important to know is that just because you may have some (or all) of these symptoms doesn't mean you actually have diabetes. But, it's better to be safe than sorry, so if you have two or more symptoms, take a minute to call your doctor or an endocrinologist and talk about your concerns. The earlier diabetes is diagnosed, the greater your chances are of beating it.

Frequent Urination
The porcelain thrown has recently become your best friend? That's probably because your body doesn't like these high levels of glucose in your bloodstream. So, in an effort to flush out the excess sugar, your kidneys start working overtime. And, overworking kidneys are a sure way to keep you running for the restroom.

Increased Thirst
This probably has something to do with your frequent restroom visits. To help rid your blood of the excess glucose, your kidneys are pulling water from your bloodstream. The water helps to dilute the glucose and flush it out in your urine. But, because you are constantly losing water, you are thirstier than normal. It's your body's way of telling you it needs more H2O.

Intense Hunger
Your cells aren't getting the energy they need from your food. (Remember, the glucose can't get into the cells without insulin and your body isn't using insulin properly right now.) As a result, your body is screaming "feed me!' It just needs more energy.

Weight Gain
Your pants feeling a bit snug today? This is likely a result of the 'intense hunger' we talked about above. Intense huger = eating more food = extra calories = weight gain. Sorry.

Extreme Weight Loss
This is more noticeable in patients with Type 1 Diabetes because it has more of a sudden onset. Because your body isn't producing insulin, your cells aren't getting the nutrients they need to survive. So, your body streets to break down your muscle and fat cells to get the energy it needs. This causes you to lose weight.

Fatigue
Simply stated, your body isn't getting the energy it needs to survive.

Irritability
Most people get cranky when they are tired, hungry, thirsty and gaining weight.

Infections
The more sugar you have hanging around in your bloodstream, the harder it is for your body to heal from infections. Diabetics are more prone to suffering from frequent skin, gum, bladder and yeast infections.

Itchy Skin
We don't know for sure why, but sometimes itchy skin is a symptom of diabetes.

Unhealed Cuts
If your cuts and bruises are taking longer to heal than usual it may be a result of diabetes. Having a lot of sugar in your blood makes it harder for your body to heal itself.

On their own, these symptoms are harmless - which is probably why many people are completely clueless that they have diabetes. However, if diabetes goes untreated, it can lead to some very serious health conditions including stroke and heart disease.

Your doctor can usually tell if you have diabetes from a simple urine test. All the doctor needs to know is if there is extra sugar in your urine. Following a positive urine test, the doctor can perform a blood test to confirm the diabetes. It's not worth the risk. If you think you have some of the symptoms of diabetes, call your doctor and schedule an appointment today.

Diabetic Nephropathy - Diagnosis, Symptoms, Treatment and Prevention

Diabetic nephropathy is a kidney disease that is caused by diabetes. You may be diabetic nephropathy when there is much inflammation, glucose, and also acid waste in the bloodstream so that the small capillaries feeding into the kidneys will be clogged. The accumulation of acid waste will ultimately damage kidney cells.

When the kidney cells are damaged or die, you will have a higher risk of kidney failure. The kidneys will get deteriorated faster if you keep eating unhealthy foods such as conventional animal meat or other highly processed foods, drink alcohol, and also smoke cigarettes. Diabetic nephropathy is in fact the most common cause end-stage kidney disease and chronic kidney failure in the U.S.

1. Symptoms

Patients of both diabetes type 1 and 2 are at risk of diabetic nephropathy. Unfortunately, there are no symptoms in the early stage of the condition but eventually kidney function will start declining. Later, there may be symptoms such as the following:

- Fatigue

- Frequent hiccups

- Poor appetite

- General ill feeling

- Foaming urine

- Nausea and vomiting

- Weight gain (unintentional)

- Headache

- Swelling of the legs

- Swelling around the eyes (occurs in the mornings)

2. Diagnosis

To be able to find out whether you are diabetic nephropathy or not, you can take a test which checks for the albumin or protein in the urine, since in a normal condition urine does not contain protein. Protein may appear in the urine 5 to 10 years prior to the development of other symptoms.

When you are type 1 diabetic, it is recommended to perform a urine test yearly after you are living with the condition for 5 years. When you are type 2 diabetic, immediately perform yearly urine test after being diagnosed. If any doubt occurs in the diagnosis, a biopsy is usually performed.

3. Treatment

You can avoid worse kidney disease and stay away from its complications by lowering high blood pressure or hypertension. Your doctor may prescribe you some medications for this, such as ACE inhibitors and ARBs.

However, please remember that drugs will not give long-term results!

Don't be dependent on drugs. You should consume healthy foods that can help with diabetic nephropathy, such as more vegetables and get your source of protein from chicken, instead of red meat. For those with kidney problems, research has shown that chicken is a better alternative. You should also do regular physical activity.

4. Prevention

Preventing is better than treating. To be able to do this, you can have a plant-based diet, such as raw salads and raw vegetable juices. When you are type 1 or type 2 diabetic, do an annual checkup with your doctor. Also, remember to regularly control your blood pressure.

For kidney health, stay away from highly processed foods and include more green vegetables in your diet like kale and spinach. Don't forget to get the useful omega-3 from fish like wild salmon and sardines.

Diabetes Symptoms in Women - Be Aware Of These Diabetes Symptoms Before They Kill You

Are you experiencing some diabetes symptoms? Are you scared of being diagnosed with diabetes? If your answer is yes; then I am not surprised as generally women are termed as scary as well as weaker by men.

However being a woman I believe that women are much more sensible as well as stronger mentally. This is true that it is slightly difficult to manage a diabetic life; however overall it is good as well as healthy lifestyle. All a diabetic person requires is patience with a little bit of management. The most important thing here is to start the treatment the moment diabetes is diagnosed. The early treatment for diabetes is not possible without the proper diagnosis and understanding of diabetes symptoms in women.

If the problem is diagnosed at an early stage one can easily avoid the severe intensity of diabetic complications. The hectic lifestyle has made diabetes a common disease. The ratio of women suffering from diabetes has also considerably increased in the past few years. The symptoms of diabetes differ from one woman to another. One of the most common diabetes symptoms in women is sexual and hormonal disorder. Diabetic women are more prone to complications during menstruation and yeast infection in vagina. Other diseases linked with sexual organs are most commonly found in diabetic women.

There are three types of diabetes

Diabetes type 1Diabetes type 2Gestational diabetes

The women who are suffering from type 1 and type 2 diabetes have to be very careful about their diet. The chief factors of diabetic diet management are time as well as quantity of the meals. It is important that diet must contain healthy as well as nutritious food items. Only a prescribed quantity of diet should be consumed at the recommended time. Poor eating habits and obesity are two most major causes of diabetes onset. Other contributing factors are poor lifestyle habits, stress, no exercise and inadequate sleep

The third type is the gestational diabetes. It occurs during pregnancy and is naturally cured after the birth of the baby.

Type 1 diabetes symptoms are developed quickly within a very short time span; whereas the symptoms for diabetes type 2 onsets slowly. People who suffer from mild case of diabetes are unable to detect the symptoms.

There are chances that they do not experience any notable diabetes symptoms for a very long time period. It is critically important for all women to be aware of the diabetes symptoms so that they can detect the problem as soon as it arrives. Following are the most common diabetes symptoms in women;

Unquenchable thirstSudden weight lossExcessive urinationBlurriness in visionSlow healing of woundsDry as well as itchy skinRecurrent vaginal infectionsIncrease in appetiteSwelling of feetNumbness and tingling in hand and feet

Any diabetic woman at one time may suffer from all or none of the above mentioned symptoms. So it is extremely important to listen to the body. If there is even more than one diabetes symptom then it is advisable to consult the doctor so that the problem can be detected as early as possible.

Diabetes Symptoms and Treatment

One of the most common metabolic disorders in today's world is diabetes. Malfunctioning of the pancreas in - producing too little insulin, resistance to insulin, or both and this causes diabetes. Insulin is a hormone secreted by the pancreas to help in converting sugar, starches, and other foods into energy. A person who has regular high levels of blood glucose is diagnosed to suffer from diabetes. There are three types of diabetes - Type I, Type II, and Gestational diabetes.

Polydipsia or increased thirst causing to drink fluids more often, Polyphagia or increased appetite, Polyuria or frequent passing of urine, Blurred eye vision, Lack of energy and fatigue, Unusual and sudden weight loss, Dry itchy skin, Slow healing sores, Losing sensation or tingling and numbness in feet are all diabetes symptoms.

The different allopathic diabetes medicines are - Meglitinide Drugs, Alpha-glucosidase Inhibitors, Thiazolidinedione Drugs, DPP-4 Inhibitors, Sulfonylureas Drugs, Biguanide Drugs, Dopamine Receptor Agonists, Bile Acid Sequestrants, and Combination Drugs.

In Ayurveda, diabetes is also known as Madhumeha and according to them, there are 20 types of diabetes - four types are due to Vata, six types from Pitta, and Kapha causes the remaining ten. Ayurveda for Diabetes helps to maintain blood sugar and keep kidneys, liver, eyes, and heart safe as these organs are affected by long drawn diabetes. Some diabetes herbal medications are listed here - Gymnema Sylvestre, Salacia oblonga, Bitter Melon, Cinnamon, Fenugreek, Ginseng, Aloe vera, and Chandraprabha. Some specified herbs for diabetes are - Savory to alleviate thirst, Broccoli, Ginseng, Green Tea, Lantana, Plantain, Sage to lower blood sugar, Evening Primrose for blood circulation, and Aloe Vera, Beans, Ginseng, Green Tea, Plantain to normalize blood sugar.

In Ayurvedic medication since ages, cow urine is used to prepare diabetes medicines. A recent scientific study by Dr. Jayakumar and his team in their research have found that the cow urine has anti-diabetic properties and has raised hope for millions of diabetic patients in India and abroad. The project funded by the State Government will be over five years.

Natural medicines for diabetes do not cause any side effects and help in stimulating pancreas to function normally. Any form of regular exercise, stopping smoking and alcohol, and taking a balanced diet along with few life-style changes can help in controlling diabetes. Some yoga exercises that are beneficial for diabetes are Sarvangasana, Halasana, the Child pose, Paschimotasana, and Ardha Matsyendrasana. Diabetes yoga helps to manage diabetes by activating glandular system responsible for this illness.

New Treatment To Help Patients Cope With Diabetes Mellitus Symptoms

While there are no clinical investigations of cannabis for the treatment of diabetes mellitus in scientific literature, there are a small number of preclinical studies that indicate that cannabinoids found in marijuana may provide symptomatic relief to those suffering from diabetes mellitus. Medical marijuana is also known to modify the progression of the disease according to a 2006 study published in the journal Autoimmunity.

The study reported that 5 mg injections of the non-psychoactive cannabinoid CBD every day significantly reduced the incidence of diabetes in mice and investigators reported that while around 86% of untreated control mice in the study developed diabetes, by contrast only 30% of mice that were treated with CBD developed the disease. Diabetes Mellitus refers to a set of autoimmune diseases that are characterized by defects in the secretion of insulin by the pancreas. This results in hyperglycemia or an extremely high concentration of glucose in the blood.

Type 1 diabetes or juvenile diabetes and Type 2 diabetes or adult onset diabetes are the two primary types of diabetes. While type 1 diabetes sufferers must rely on insulin medication for survival, sufferers of type 2 diabetes produce insufficient amounts of insulin and their condition can typically be controlled by diet. In fact, statistics indicate that after heart disease and cancer, diabetes mellitus is the third major cause of death in the United States. It may also lead to nerve damage, kidney failure, blindness, hardening of the arteries, and eventually death.

Researchers at the Medical College of Virginia reported in the March 2006 issue of the American Journal of Pathology that CBD treated rats experienced significant protection from diabetic retinopathy when they were treated for periods of 1 to 4 weeks. Diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of blindness in adults is characterized by a breakdown of the blood-retinal barrier and retinal oxygen deprivation. There are other preclinical trials that have demonstrated the beneficial effects of cannabinoids in animal models of diabetes.

Medical marijuana is known to alleviate neuropathic pain associated with diabetes mellitus and studies published in the journal Neuroscience Letters in 2004 reported that mice who were administered a receptor agonist for cannabis experienced a decrease in diabetes related tactile allodynia or pain resulting from a non-injurious skin stimulus when compared with the non treated controls. These findings suggest that the cannabinoids in MMJ may have great therapeutic potential to treat experimental neuropathic pain triggered by diabetes mellitus.

Hypoglycemia - The Symptoms and the Diabetes Connection

Hypoglycemia is a medical term. It simply means low blood sugar. Cells fuel themselves with glucose, the simplest form of sugar. The main purpose of digestion is to turn everything we eat into this high power fuel so the cells can do their job.

So what happens if the supply in your blood runs low because it's been too long since you ate, or you went swimming or jogging and didn't prepare for the extra exercise by eating something first? Hypoglycemia.

What Should You Watch For?

The symptoms are clear. You get tired and lose focus easily. You might feel shaky and anxious. And you feel hungry or thirsty. If you ignore these symptoms you will begin to sweat and get blurred vision.

What's the worst that could happen if a diabetic ignores hypoglycemia and tries to push past it? Seizures, coma and even death. But that is the extreme, and it happens most often in people who have untreated type 1 diabetes. It can also happen when a type 2 diabetic takes too much insulin.

The possibility of hypoglycemia is the biggest reason diabetics wear special jewelry, necklaces or bracelets to alert people around them of their condition.

The Grouch Factor

But most of the time hypoglycemia just makes you a grouch. You wake up in the morning grouchy because it's been a long time since you ate. That's why it's called breakfast; you've been fasting, which is something hypoglycemics do not tolerate well.

Then about an hour before lunch, or in the middle of the afternoon you have another spell of the grouchies, or you get tired, sleepy, and can't concentrate.

The worst part of hypoglycemia is how quickly it affects the brain. Your brain does not store or make glucose, so it is sensitive and reacts to low blood sugar faster than any other part of you.

What Causes Hypoglycemia in People Who Don't Have Diabetes?

Nobody knows for sure. It comes and goes, and it's often hard to convince your doctor that you have it. Many doctors will only consider hypoglycemia with a blood sugar consistently below 50. They use criteria from something called the Whipple Triad.

But many who suffer from the symptoms of hypoglycemia do not fit the doctors' criteria. So they are left undiagnosed. From my own experience with a glucose monitor, the effects of hypoglycemia can show up with a blood sugar closer to 70.

But not many people who don't have diabetes happen to have a glucose monitor lying around when they get the shakes. That makes it difficult to prove hypoglycemia.

In non-diabetics hypoglycemia seems to be caused by an overreaction of the pancreas to eating sugar and carbs. If the beta cells release too much insulin into the blood stream, the glucose gets transferred out, leaving the blood sugar too low. That's when the symptoms appear. There is more going on but that is the short version.

Does It Mean You Are Borderline Diabetic?

The symptoms of shaking, tiredness and irritability in a non-diabetic are the same as those in diabetics. but that does not mean you are diabetic or even borderline. Many people who have hypoglycemia never become diabetic. And some people are not hypoglycemic at all.

You might have symptoms that look like low blood sugar, but the cause is not hypoglycemia. The list of possible conditions is very long. There are at least 50 possibilities and they include anemia. That's why it's crucial to go to your doctor and get yourself checked out before you decide you have hypoglycemia. Don't self diagnose.

But if your doctors can't find any reason for your symptoms, then you might try the things others have used to help them with hypoglycemia. If those things help you, you may have found the problem.

Some of the Things You Can Do

The good news is that there are lots of people who have hypoglycemia and found ways to feel better. Here are a few of the do's and don'ts from the hypoglycemia forums.

Do eat smaller, more frequent meals. That keeps the pancreas from putting out too much insulin at once, and it smooths the lows that make you grouchy.Don't eat carbohydrate snacks by themselves. Add some fiber, protein and/or fats (like nuts) to slow down the digestion of the carbs.Do eat a healthy snack with carbs and protein before you exercise.Don't drink high sugar sodas. Hypoglycemics say they are the worst for causing highs and then crashes. They are packed with sugar and many have caffeine, and some hypoglycemics say caffeine make things worse.Do get your blood sugar checked to see if you are borderline diabetic.

One friend of mine suffered with grouchies every morning. She learned to keep a plate of cheese by her bed so in the morning before her feet hit the floor she could grab a quick snack. It kept her on an even keel while she got her kids ready for school. She never had diabetes, but she did have hypoglycemia.

Hypoglycemia in Diabetics

Diabetics on insulin watch for low blood sugar as much as for high blood sugar, because we are artificially managing insulin levels. The diabetes symptoms you need to watch for include sugar lows, and it's good to know the way your body reacts to them as part of your journey with the disease.

If you get weak and sweaty and begin to see spots before your eyes, your blood sugar has probably dropped close to or below 50 and it's time to do something. Orange juice, milk or a quick bowl of cereal brings blood sugar up quickly.

Hypoglycemia is dangerous for a type 1 or type 2 diabetic. It can happen fast, and it is always unexpected. If you get a stomach virus, if for some reason your insulin level rises during the night, or if you exercised more than usual and did not adjust your medication to account for it - there are many factors to consider if you are taking insulin.

It helps to have family around at a time like that. You're not always thinking clearly and it's good to have someone else there to take you to the emergency room if things don't normalize. Don't be shy about asking for help. And make sure you wear a diabetic identification bracelet or necklace all the time.

If you are hypoglycemic but not diabetic, there are hypoglycemia groups ready to welcome you and sympathize with the problems you are facing. Sometimes my hypoglycemic friends felt left out in the cold because they were not taken seriously by the medical community.

But there are people who have been helped and want to pay it forward. They will share the things that have helped them, and they'll support and encourage you when nothing seems to be working. Find a hypoglycemia forum online and join it. Reach out.