Diabetes Awareness

Diabetes mellitus is one of the most common and fastest growing metabolic diseases. India has the highest incidence of diabetes and is infamously known as the diabetes capital of the world. This is the result of the adverse effects of modernization and urbanization on our lifestyle. As it is influenced by lifestyle changes, it can be prevented or at least the complications can be prevented by taking appropriate therapeutic measures. Early diagnosis is the key to avoiding the long-term suffering by the patient. 

Symptoms to diagnose diabetes:

Sudden weight loss- Unexplained sudden loss of weight is caused on the onset of diabetes. The reason behind is that insufficient insulin levels in the body prevent the metabolism of carbohydrate. As the glucose does not breakdown to provide energy, the body starts breaking the stored fat cells to provide energy for survival causing weight loss.

Increased thirst- When glucose becomes hyper-concentrated in the blood stream, the kidney loses its ability to re-uptake glucose from the water. Under normal circumstances, all the glucose is absorbed from the urine. But because the kidney is unable to absorb the glucose, its concentration is high in the urine creating an osmotic pressure on the kidney. This pressure eventually becomes so high that the kidney is unable to absorb water resulting in dehydration causing excessive thirst.

Increased urination- As the concentration of glucose is too high it is continuously excreted form the body in the form of urine, causing excessive urination.

Increased hunger- Due to the lack of insulin the body is not able to burn glucose to provide energy, hence the cells are always giving signal of hunger with the expectation that more food would be able to provide for energy.

Tiredness- As the blood thickens due to the presence of excessive glucose; it slows down the circulation of blood in the vessels causing lesser uptake of oxygen and nutrients. High sugar levels in the blood also cause inflammation of blood vessels causing a feeling of lethargy and tiredness. 

Hence, early detection is the key to the management of diabetes. It can help the person to manage and delay any vascular complications, which may be relating to eyes, extremities, kidney or heart.