Diabetes is a disease that is predominantly characterized by excessively high levels of glucose in your blood stream. The reason underlying this can either be that the amount of insulin, which breaks down the glucose into energy, produced by your pancreas is insufficient, or that your body has developed a peculiar immunity to the insulin, rendering it ineffective. In either case, the glucose levels in the bloodstream surge, bringing about a plethora of untoward consequences. However, diabetes is most dangerous as its early development is barely perceptible, given the nature of the symptoms. And this is why an alarming majority of cases diagnosed are at their most advanced stages, making the disease a lot more difficult to control and treat. Nevertheless, there are still a few initial signs that diabetes manifests before it begins to assume control of the victim's body.
The first and most common indicator is the tendency to urinate a lot more than you are accustomed to, even though you aren't drinking any more water than usual. This may be a sign of high glucose levels in your blood that your kidney is trying to filter out. As the glucose in your body is redundant, given the impaired performance of insulin, your body has to purge it out, which it tries to do by diluting the sugar with large amounts of water, which is then discarded via your kidneys.
As your body discards the glucose, it also eliminates a lot of the water in your body, making you parched and dehydrated. Hence you will find that you feel a lot thirstier than is usual and in spite of the unnaturally large quantities of water you consume, you remain as thirsty as ever. This can be directly attributed to the high amounts of urine you excrete; your increased intake of water is also coupled with abnormally high levels of urine. And hence, even though you may be consuming several times the amount of water than you normally do, you are still running a huge risk of severe dehydration.
When your body is starved of energy, on account of the mal-utilization of glucose, you may begin to feel lightheaded and weak. Many people assume that this weakness is just a passing phase which needs rest to get better. However, it is the silent signal your body is sending to you, indicating that the food you have consumed is not being used by your cells, which is making them weak and fatigued.
The high-levels of sugar in your blood are particularly damaging to the nerves in your body, bringing about a feeling of numbness or a loss of sensation over a period of time. This damage particularly afflicts the extremities of your body, namely your fingers and feet, and increases as the levels of glucose continue to rise unchecked a condition termed as Diabetic Neuropathy.
Diabetes is also responsible for the thickening of veins in your body, which hampers the process of blood circulation. Subsequently, any cuts and wounds you develop during this stage will take a lot longer to heal. Also, these wounds will be more susceptible to infection, given the high glucose content of the blood which encourages fungi and bacteria to develop.
These conditions, though tremendously severe in their own right, are only a precursor to diabetes. The Pre-Diabetic Phase, as this period is known, is unpredictably volatile or sedate. in certain cases, individuals are known to have suffered from pre-diabetes for a major part of their life, without this disease ever advancing into its more destructive stage, while in some others, diabetes was immediate to catch on with pre-diabetes lasting for merely a couple of months. Pre-Diabetes is a lot easier to control and treat than diabetes in itself, and if diagnosed in time, can be arrested at this phase for the remainder of the victim's life. And so, if you find yourself experiencing any of these symptoms, don't hesitate to contact your physician immediately. As the adage does, it's better to be safe than sorry and in this case, it may even save you your life!
Julia Hanf author of the book How To Play the Diabetes Diet Game and Win Through a real life crisis Julia figured out how to live diabetes free. Visit www.yourdiabetescure.com and learn more about your solution for diabetes.