Through metabolism, the body changes much of the food eaten into glucose, a form of sugar. The body then releases insulin from the pancreas to help the glucose enter the cells in the body and be used as energy.
When an individual suffers from diabetes, the body does not make enough insulin or cannot use the insulin properly. Diabetes complications are often classified as being microvascular or macrovascular. In other words, diabetes affects the very tiny arterial blood vessels in the body or the larger blood vessels that feed the heart, brain and larger organs.
High Blood Glucose
According to Kids Health, long-term complications from diabetes are often related to high blood sugar levels over a long period of time. Researchers believe that the body's response to these high levels of glucose results in long-term complications in both the microvascular and macrovascular areas of the body.
Complications from high blood glucose levels do not occur within 24 to 36 hours, but rather over a period of years or even decades. The complications associated with high blood sugar often develop silently and gradually without the individual being aware.
Physicians use a blood test called the A1C in order to track the long-term blood sugar control that an individual achieves under his current treatment regimen.
Arterial Wall Changes
Exposure to high levels of glucose makes significant changes along the arterial wall of the circulatory system. According to the Federal Citizens Information Center in Pueblo, Colorado, these arterial changes make important differences in the development of heart disease, kidney disease, peripheral artery disease, and reduced eyesight. All of these are long-term complications of diabetes.
Diabetes doubles a person's risk of developing heart disease, which is the most common life-threatening disease that is linked to diabetes. Both exposure to high blood glucose levels and hypertension can increase the risk that individuals will also suffer from kidney disease.
Retinopathy
Diabetes also affects an individual's ability to see. According to the Federal Citizens Information Center in Pueblo, Colorado, the effects can be temporary when corrected early. Researchers believe that changing levels of glucose in the blood can affect the balance of fluid in the lens of the eye. If the lens absorbs more water than normal, it swells and reduces the ability to focus changes.
Cataracts and glaucoma are two other eye diseases that occur more frequently in individuals who suffer from diabetes. Early diagnosis and treatment of these conditions, as well as better blood glucose control, can reduce the severity of the disorders and reduce the potential for blindness.
Nerve Damage
Diabetic neuropathy makes it difficult for the nerves in the body to send appropriate messages to the brain and other parts of the body. Loss of this function may result in losing feeling or in having a painful, tingling or burning feeling constantly. According to Family Doctor, diabetic neuropathy most often affects the feet and legs. This means that an individual may not be able to feel the development of a sore on the foot.
In serious cases these sores can become infected and may require amputation of the lower extremity. Warning signs that nerve damage has occurred are numbness and tingling feelings in the fingers, toes, hands or feet, sharp pain that is worse at night, muscle weakness and difficulty walking or erectile dysfunction in men and vaginal dryness in women.
