Now that you've become acquainted with Type 2 Diabetes Risk Factors in the last post, let's move on to symptoms....
How would you suspect that someone you know may be suffering from diabetes?
Could you have diabetes type 2?
DIABETES TYPE 2 SYMPTOMS AND SIGNS
Excessive Hunger
Read this carefully...
courtesy youtube.com
Insulin's role is to help the sugar get into our body's cells.
The problem is when you suffer from diabetes there is less than usual, or very little.
Quite literally, you are eating food, but despite it being converted to sugar in the body, your cells can't access it, because there is no insulin to help the sugar inside the body's cells.
The body realizing that it's not receiving any food, and hence no energy, very wisely, will trigger your "hunger sensation" to inform you. 'Listen I need to be fed!!'
So you eat...and you eat, and you do realise that you are eating more than usual.
However, the more you eat, still, the hungrier you are, the more your body screams out "I need food!!"
courtesy fivehourdiabetic.com
The caveat is that your sugar level is rising as a result.
The food and energy your body's cells so desperately need is inside you but because there isn't enough insulin, the cells of your body can't access it in for energy.
Its an unfortunate cycle.
Unintended Weight Loss
courtesy substance.com
In our communities this is usually the first thing you'll hear a villager comment on,
" So and so drap weight so quick me min deya say he/she mussa hab shugah, yuh know dah dey suck yuh dry..."
It does....not exactly in those terms, but you see, the body has to look for an alternative route for energy. I've already explained excessive hunger, we can piggy back off of that explanation.
Despite eating the cells of the body are unable to take in and use sugar due to a lowered amount of insulin, or a lack thereof in the blood.
Weight loss occurs because since the body (despite your best efforts to feed it) cannot get the energy it needs from sugar, it wisely looks for alternatives.. "Ok, seems as if this human isn't feeding me, let me use something else to get some energy!"
Where does it look to? Fat and muscle. By burning those, the body get some of the energy it requires to keep itself going.
As a result however, all we see is that "so and so" is dropping weight all of a sudden.
Excessive Thirst
Thus the domino effect continues.
So far you have an idea that the excess amount of sugar in the blood is to be blamed for the symptoms. How does that translate into excessive thirst?
Let's get closer to home first. Bear with me.
Think of the black pineapple.
courtesy wes.com
Yes. The Black Pineapple. Trust that I'm going somewhere with this.
Antigua and Barbuda is notoriously drought ridden. The dry conditions of our climate, have been blamed for the concentrated sugary sweetness that is the Antigua black, more rain water according to older villagers would have produced a less sweeter pineapple.
How does this relate to you being thirsty more than usual?
More sugar in the pineapple, less rainwater in the pineapple. More sugar in blood, means less fluid in the blood. As a result, to wisely compensate, the body now recruits fluid from out of the cells to dilute the sugar that's in the blood. It has to find a way to restore balance.
Can you imagine the predicament of the body's cells?
First, no sugar, no energy. This is despite the body generating hunger pangs to help give them what they need desperately. That was a failed mission, so they had to turn to the muscle and fat for help. Now on top of all that, it seems they now have to send out the fluid inside them into the blood stream because there is too much of the sugar (that they need!) on the outside.
Imagine that jack.
Now there's a new cry. "Human, I'm dry!! Give me fluid!!"
courtesy www.healthcentral.com
...and thus begins the story of your excessive thirst.
As more fluid is pulled out of the body's cells to compensate for the high sugar on the outside, the thirstier you become, for the louder the body cries for fluid.
Fluid may even be recruited from the lenses of the eyes. This can result in another symptom. Blurred Vision.
Frequent Urination
Of course, the more fluid that you drink, the more you will urinate.
courtesy freemalaysiatoday.com
Also, urine may have a sweet odour.
This is because the kidney aren't able to re-absorb all the sugar out of the urine.
Slow healing cuts and/sores
You will notice that cuts and sores will take an abnormally longer amount of time to heal. This is because the high sugar content and decreased uptake of insulin contributes to a decrease in the body's cell response to tissue injury.
courtesy www.healthtap.com
Frequent infections
As a result of the high sugar levels, cells in the immune system will not function as they ought.
Our immune system is in charge of fighting disease and infections. If this barrier malfunctions this means the body is more open to infection.
Some persons may have frequent urinary tract infection, thrush, genital yeast infections, or recurrent skin infections.
If you or a loved one has any of these symptoms or signs with associated risk factors be sure to see your primary care physician.
I hope that this helped someone understand diabetes a bit better.
Till next time, blessings to you and yours.
Stay #wadadlianstrong
©June 2016
