Diabetes Symptoms

Causes of Diabetes, Major Factors of Diabetes

Certain factors that contribute to the development of diabetes are -

Heredity

Heredity is a major factor. That diabetes can be inherited has been known for centuries. However, the pattern of inheritance is not fully understood. Statistic indicates that those with a family history of the disease have a higher risk of developing diabetes than those without such a background. The risk factor is 25 to 33 percent more.

One reason why diabetes, especially type-2 diabetes runs in the family is because of the diabetes gene. But even it is caused by genetic factors beyond your control; there is no reason to suffer from it. Diabetes mellitus cannot be cured in full sense of the term, but it can be effectively controlled so that you would not know the difference.

Diet

Diabetes has been described by most medical scientists as a prosperity’ disease, primarily caused by systematic overeating. Not only is eating too much sugar and refined carbohydrates harmful, but proteins and fats, which are transformed into sugar, may also result in diabetes if taken in excess.

It is interesting to note that diabetes is almost unknown in countries where people are poor and cannot afford to overeat.

The incidence of diabetes is directly linked with the consumption of processed foods rich in refined carbohydrates, like biscuits, bread, cakes chocolates, pudding and ice creams.

Obesity

Obesity is one of the main causes of diabetes. Studies show that 60 to 85 % of diabetics tend to be overweight. In the United States of America, about 80 percent of type –2 non-insulin dependent diabetics are reported to be overweight.

Excess fat prevents insulin from working properly. The more fatty tissue in the body, the more resistant the muscle and tissue cells become to body insulin. Insulin allows the sugar in the blood to enter the cells by acting on the receptor sites on the surface of the cells.

Older people often tend to gain weight, and the same time, many of them develop and mild form of diabetes because who are over weight can often improve their blood sugar simply by losing weight.

Stress and Tension

There is a known connection between stress and diabetes mellitus, those who are under stress and/or lead an irregular lifestyle, need to take adequate precautions and make necessary lifestyle adjustments.

Grief, worry and anxiety resulting from examinations, death of a close relative, loss of a joy, business failure and strained marital relationship, all a deep influence on the metabolism and may cause sugar to appear in the urine.

Smoking

Smoking is another important risk factor. Among men who smoke, the risk of developing diabetes is doubled. In women who smoke 25 or more cigarettes a day, the risk of developing diabetes is increased by 40 percent.

Lifestyle Risk

People who are less active have greater risk of developing diabetes. Modern conveniences have made work easier. Physical activity and exercise helps control weight, uses up a lot of glucose (sugar) present in the blood as energy and makes cells more sensitive to insulin. Consequently, the workload on the pancreas is reduced.

8 Signs of Diabetes Symptoms

In a health conscious world it is easier to spot symptoms of diabetes in the early stages, which is known as pre-diabetes.

Discovering and taking notice of early diabetic signs gives you a fighting chance of preventing diabetes altogether. Look out for these 8 signs of pre-diabetes symptoms…

If you have two or more of these pre-diabetes symptoms you should seriously consider getting yourself checked out:

1) If you find you are excessively thirsty, not just after extreme exercise or hot weather.

2) You seem to constantly have a dry mouth – even if you’ve just had a drink.

3) You find you are having to urinate frequently.

4) You have unexpected weight loss or gain (even though you may be constantly hungry and eating well. Of course you may be eating the wrong things which would probably make your pre-diabetes symptom worse).

5) You feel lethargic. You always feel as if you’ve got no energy; you are weak and tired all the time.

6) Sometimes your vision is blurry – be careful, untreated eye problems caused through diabetes can lead to blindness. You should have regular eye checks, especially as you get older because your eyes can be the early warning signal for many diseases – not just diabetes.

7) You have cuts or sores or bruises (especially on your feet) that are slow to heal.

If you experience excessive itching or soreness in the genital area or yeast infections (which can be misdiagnosed as thrush) it may be a sign of too much sugar in your urine.

AT RISK FACTORS:

There are different types of diabetes; pre-diabetes, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, gestational and maturity onset. And, dependent upon your age, lifestyle and family history you may be more susceptible to developing diabetes.

Foe example you may be more prone to developing diabetes if any of these factors apply to you:

• Your family background is African American, American Indian, Asian American, Pacific Islander, or Hispanic American/Latino.
• You have a parent, brother, or sister with diabetes.
• You are aged over 45 and are overweight you might be at risk of diabetes type 2
• You have had gestational diabetes or have given birth to a baby over 9 pounds in weight.
• You have high blood pressure.
• Your cholesterol levels are not good.

What You Don’t Know About Diabetes Signs and Diabetes Symptoms

Diabetes is in two broad types; Diabetes Mellitus and Diabetes Insipidus. Diabetes Mellitus is the more popular type, for obvious reasons accounts for one-third of cases of cardiovascular accident commonly known as stroke.

In this piece, we shall be concerned with Diabetes Mellitus; its causes and management.

Diabetes simply put is a chronic disease state that results in glucose interference. Glucose is very essential in the metabolic pathways in the body. For glucose to be utilized by the body, a hormone known as insulin has to act on it to make it fit for body consumption. It’s worthy of note that glucose here does not mean the conventional sugar, as the layman knows it. Glucose is the end of the digestion of carbohydrates, fats and oil, the 3 main components of food.

In diabetes, there is either an insufficient supply of insulin or a relative lack of insulin.

What Factors Call Your Attention to Diabetes In as much as there are individual variations in the presentation of diabetes, there are universally capital symptoms that would need further investigations by a medical expert. This includes:

Excessive Hunger : Most diabetics find themselves excessively hungry and insatiable. This is as a result of the lack of insulin needed to utilize glucose for the body’s need, so the body lacks glucose even among the intake of so much. Excessive hunger in medical parlance is known as polyphagia.

Excessive Urination : This needs a careful interpretation. The patients definitely pass more urine after indulging in plenty fluid intake. This is not part of the diabetic symptoms. We are interested in excessive urination without provocation. A very reliable index of excessive urination is the total amount of urine passed at night (nocturnal). Pause and ask yourself how many times you urinate at night (between the hours of 10pm to 6am). If you answer 4 times and above, you would definitely need further investigation on possible diabetes presence.

Tingling Sensation at the Feet : This sensation is subject and varies for individual to individual. This is one of the symptoms that can be ascribed to chronic uncontrolled diabetes. Diabetes has been shown to affect long nerves and the tingling sensation is as a result of the weakness of the nerves

Blurring Vision : Diabetes affects the lens of the eyes. It causes plaques to be deposited in the lens causing blurring vision. This is one of the symptoms and pointers to the presence of diabetes condition.

There is one more sign, which could very well be considered a symptom. It is the most obvious sign, one you see every day in the mirror if it applies to you. And that is, obesity. Obesity in medical terms doesn’t necessarily mean you are grossly overweight. There is a chart available in many places on the Internet, called the BMI, or Body Mass Index. Just “Google” it. You can use the chart to determine whether you are obese or just overweight or in the healthy weight range.

Of course, not everyone who is overweight or obese has diabetes or pre-diabetes. But obesity is the base from which most of the other signs of diabetes operate. If you have a BMI of 30 or higher and you have two or more of the other signs described in this article, you are at very high risk for diabetes and other serious health problems.