Early Symptoms of Diabetes

It is very important that we notice the slightest physical signs or physiological changes in the body, in order to detect and treat disorders at the earliest. If you actually observe your body carefully, you will be able to notice the early symptoms of diabetes. Many times it has been observed that people ignore such early symptoms. Diabetes if left untreated can give rise to many more health issues and complications later.

What is Diabetes?

The medical term for diabetes is diabetes mellitus. The pancreas in the human body produces a hormone called insulin. This hormone is necessary to move the glucose into the cells. When the pancreas is working at its best, it adjusts the amount of insulin required depending on the glucose in the blood stream. However, if you are affected with diabetes, this balance of insulin breaks down.

Types of Diabetes

Type I Diabetes: This type of diabetes is also called insulin dependent diabetes mellitus. In this type of diabetes, the pancreas does not produce insulin at all.

Type II Diabetes: In this type of diabetes, the pancreas produces the necessary insulin but the cells become immune to insulin. Due to which glucose does not get absorbed into the cells. Therefore, in both the cases glucose is not supplied to the cells, which leads to increase in sugar level in the blood.

Early Symptoms of Diabetes

There are a number of early symptoms of diabetes. They are listed below:

• Extreme Thirst and Extreme Hunger: Extreme thirst and/or extreme hunger are very common early symptoms of diabetes. If you keep feeling hungry in spite of eating your hearts content, or if you feel thirsty even after drinking a lot of water, then it is an early sign of diabetes. It has been observed that some diabetic patients have sugar cravings, especially when they were first diagnosed with diabetes.
• Weight Loss: If you have noticed that in the recent times you have been eating the same amount of food or may be even more and still losing weight and have made no changes to your lifestyle, then you should immediately consult with a physician. This can be one of the diabetes symptoms.
• Frequent Urination: Like feeling thirsty often, if you feel like urinating often, then this is another good reason to see a doctor. It can be a symptom of urinary tract infection as well, but diabetes can also be the cause.
• Blurry Vision: If you are experiencing blurry vision in recent times, remember this is a common problem of symptoms of early diabetes. Eye problems is one of the common symptoms of early diabetes. At the same time eye problems increase as diabetes progresses.
• Fatigue: Diabetes causes fatigue. The reason is due to lack of insulin, glucose does not move into the cells. This causes the cells to be energy starved. The energy starving cells result in, you feeling tired and fatigued.
• Tingling Sensation: Tingling sensation in your hands, feet or legs is referred to as neuropathy. This happens when the blood sugar level has been consistently high, which causes nerve damage. Very often this early symptom of diabetes is neglected and is discovered after a couple of years.
• Poor Healing of Wounds: Insulin is required for protecting the body from viruses, bacteria or any foreign substance. In short lack of insulin disturbs the body's immune system. Therefore, if there is a wound, it does not heal or it takes very long to heal. If the required precautions are not taken it can lead to gangrene and amputation of the part.
• Recurring Infections:Very often people with symptoms of early diabetes suffer from recurring infections like infections of skin, vaginal yeast infections, bladder, gums, etc.

It is very important not to neglect early symptoms. Diabetes can lead to blindness, heart attacks, renal failure, etc. It has been observed that only half of the patients have been diagnosed due to the early symptoms of diabetes. Although there are many reasons for the same, one reason is that the symptoms may match some other health problems. However, it is essential to keep a close watch on any changes occurring in your body!