Your Body Attempts to Manage the Sugar
The Joslin Diabetes Center says that when you eat sugar or starches, your body produces an equal amount of the hormone insulin to help convert the sugar and starches you eat into glucose. Glucose can then be taken up by your cells and used for energy. When your body does not produce enough insulin, the glucose levels in your bloodstream rise.
The Body Is Unable to Process the Sugar
In the case of diabetes, insulin can't lower your blood sugar levels. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the body doesn't produce insulin. Type 2 diabetes is diagnosed when your body can't use the insulin that is present. According to the American Diabetes Association, when either of these situations occurs, sugar or glucose levels from the foods you eat can build up too high in the blood. This can cause mild diabetic-related symptoms or lead to severe complications and damage to the body.
Symptoms Appear
Your blood glucose levels rise, causing a condition called hyperglycemia. You may begin to experience symptoms such as excessive thirst and frequent urination. If left untreated you may have blurred vision, headaches, weight loss, increased hunger, become irritable and feel fatigued. According to the Mayo Clinic: "Long periods of hyperglycemia can damage your nerves, blood vessels and organs."
Other Medical Conditions Develop
If your hyperglycemia continues untreated, it can lead to blindness and damage blood vessels. Damage to your blood vessels can eventually lead to heart disease, heart attack, stroke or amputation. You may also notice that cuts or wounds heal slowly or improperly and that you experience digestive problems.
Complications Occur
The America Diabetes Association says that if you don't treat hyperglycemia, a condition called ketoacidosis (diabetic coma) is possible. Ketoacidosis develops when your body doesn't have enough insulin. Without insulin, your body can't use glucose for fuel, so instead, the body breaks down fats to use for energy and waste products called ketones are produced. Your body can't handle a lot of ketones and tries to pass them via urine. But because the body can't release all of the ketones, they build up in your blood and can trigger ketoacidosis--which could be fatal and requires immediate treatment. Symptoms include shortness of breath, breath that smells fruity, nausea, vomiting and dry mouth.
