Warning Signs of Diabetes
If you are not exercising, if you are overweight, and if you are eating a diet heavy in starchy, sugary goods, you are setting yourself up for diabetes.
When you have diabetes you cells are not getting enough energy-producing sugar or glucose.
With Type 1 diabetes you probably lack the insulin you need to regulate the amount of glucose that goes to your cells which results in a high sugar blood level. This type of diabetes is generally found in children and young adults and its source may be genetic or a virus.
With Type 2 diabetes, there isn’t enough insulin present to make it effective. This is the most common diabetes among overweight adults usually in their 50s and 60s. However, children as young as 12 have been reported to have Type 2 diabetes.
It is important to pay attention to these signs because they may indicate that your body is no longer able to control your blood sugar.
- Frequent urination
- Extreme thirst
- Weight loss without dieting
- Weakness and fatigue
- Blurred vision
- Tingling or numbness in legs, hands or feet.
Untreated, diabetes can lead to blindness, heart disease and kidney disease. Your are also more susceptible to infection and your cuts don’t heal as well as they should.
Your doctor can test you for glucose intolerance which is a pre-diabetic condition. All this means is that you are not in the diabetic range but you are getting close to it. Changing your lifestyle could change your life at this point.
You should also know that diabetes can’t be cured but it can be treated. You can live a healthy life when you keep your blood sugar under control. Sometimes just modifying your life slightly can keep your blood sugar levels normal.
- Eat low-fat, low-calorie foods.
- Reduce the portion size of your goods
- Lose weight
- Limit the time you spend on the couch and the computer.
- Get a yearly diabetes screening from your doctor.
I think this is helpful information particularly when you realize the holidays aren’t that far a way and the holiday the end of the month marks a sugar frenzy. Take care of your body so that it can take care of you.
To you healthy aging,
Ruthan Brodsky
Tagged with: blood sugar levels • blurred vision • diabetes screening • diabetic condition • extreme thirst • glucose intolerance • healthy aging • kidney disease • lifestyle • prevent illness • Ruthan Brodsky • type 1 diabetes • type 2 diabetes
Filed under: Conditions and Diseases
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Interesting post. It’s a good reason to support better health care access. I’ve been reading about people who refused to get tested for glucose intolerance because they would lose access to insurance coverage if the numbers were high.
.-= Cathy´s last blog ..City Dog Makes Friends In The Dog Park =-.