Signs of Diabetes

Overview

According to the American Diabetes Association, more than 23 million adults and children in the United States are diabetic. Diabetes is a serious metabolic disease that causes a sustained increase in the amount of glucose in the blood. There are two kinds of diabetes, type I and type II. Type I diabetes is caused by the pancreas creating an insufficient amount of insulin for the body's tissues. Type II diabetes is caused by the resistance of the body's cells to insulin. Both types of diabetes result in higher than normal levels of blood sugar and lead to kidney failure and damage to nerves and arteries that could ultimately result in blindness or loss of limb.

The most common symptoms of both types of diabetes are extreme hunger, excessive thirst, frequent urination, rapid weight loss, fatigue, irritability and blurry vision.

Extreme Hunger

Diabetics often complain that they're always hungry, even after eating. The reason is the cells are literally starving in the presence of high concentrations of glucose. Without sufficient insulin or the ability to use insulin, as in type II diabetes, the cells starve, sending a message to the brain that the body needs more to eat. The diabetic continues to eat but the cells don't get nourished.

Excessive Thirst

Thirst is a built-in mechanism that tells the body that it's not getting enough to drink. In the case of the diabetic, the body attempts to dilute dangerously high concentrations of glucose in the bloodstream by pulling water out of the cells. The cells tell the brain that it needs more water, so it registers thirst and the diabetic drinks more fluids.

Frequent Urination

The body is made up of roughly 98 percent water. If the cells of the body tell the brain that the body is thirsty, the kidneys respond by excreting the extra water taken in through extra fluids. As the volume of water is lost through the urine, the concentration of glucose increases, causing thirst--and the vicious cycle continues.

Rapid Weight Loss

As part of the mixed messages the brain receives during periods of high glucose concentrations, the body responds in one of two ways, depending on the diabetes type. Type I diabetics fail to produce enough insulin, so the cells of the body literally starve. Because they can't produce energy by burning glucose, they burn body fat. Type II diabetics produce plenty of insulin, but their tissues are resistant to it and the body reacts much in the same way as type I diabetics. Because the body cannot recognize glucose and burns fat, rapid weight loss often follows.

Fatigue

When the diabetic goes days, weeks or months with unmanaged blood glucose levels, the body starves. Without enough glucose to supply the body's needs, it begins to shut down and conserves its energy, causing extreme fatigue.

Irritability

The nervous system is the primary consumer of glucose in the blood. The brain depends on glucose as its only source of fuel. If the body's metabolism gets thrown out of balance by low concentrations of blood glucose, it causes irritability.

Blurry Vision

Similar to irritability, when the brain gets low on blood glucose, it fails to send the proper information to the optic nerve and the eyes. On the other hand, sustained high levels of glucose can damage the retina in the eyes, causing retinopathy, resulting in either a partial or full loss of sight in the eyes.