How does one know that he has diabetes? What are the symptoms? The most common early symptoms are excessive hunger, excessive thirst, and frequent urination. The diabetic person always feels hungry even with regular meals because the glucose cannot enter the cell so that the cell sends signals to the brain of being hungry. The thirst on the other hand is due to loss of fluid inside the cell because water moves from an area of lower concentration (cell) to an area of higher concentration ( blood vessel). Frequent drinking then results to frequent urination.
The other symptoms like the numbness in hands and/or feet, and change of vision appear later in the condition when the nerves had already been affected. Aside from these, there is weight loss, fatigue, slow healing or non-healing wounds, very dry skin, and more infections than usual. Most of these can be explained by the absence of energy and build-up of glucose in the blood vessels.
What can be done? Control the weight by having a meal plan. It is also good to have regular exercise at least 3 to 4 times a week with at least 15 minutes per session. This will help lose the excess weight or maintain an ideal one. It also increases the body's sensitivity to medications.
For individuals who are: obese, with positive family history, lack exercise, with prior history of gestational diabetes (women only), please don't wait for symptoms to appear before seeking consult. It maybe too late. Act now and have your blood sugar evaluated.
Comments (2)
this is very informative, written in plain language--which many could understand. i just hope that an awareness campaign on diabetes be more widespread, as this is one of the diseases that affect a of filipinos
yes, dine, it important that people understand their illness so that they will be more compliant during treatment. we do some free scheduled lectures for the patients and their families here in our clinic.
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