Take Control of Your Diabetes Now to Prevent Disabling Complications Later
Most people understand that diabetes is a serious disease that involves too much glucose (sugar) in the blood and not enough insulin. Unfortunately, many people do not understand that the complications of diabetes can be devastating, debilitating, and can affect almost every system in the body, from head to toe.
“The most common complications are retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy,” says Vivian Sobel, MD, an endocrinologat Weill Cornell Medical College. “Additional complications include peripheral vascular disease and coronary artery disease”
Diabetic retinopathy (vision disorders)
Diabetic retinopathy is a term that refers to all vision disorders caused by diabetes. Glaucoma and cataracts are two of the most common.
People with diabetes are 40 percent more likely to develop glaucoma and 60 percent more likely to develop cataracts. However, most experience only minor eye disorders, according to the American Diabetes Association. The longer a person has diabetes, the higher the risk, which increases with age.
WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW
Symptoms of diabetes that warrant medical attention include:
➤ Blurry vision/floaters/acute vision loss
➤ Foot pain
➤ Foot ulcerations (sores)
➤ Pain in the legs while walking
➤ Chest pain or extreme
shortness of breath
Nephropathy (kidney disease)
High levels of glucose in the blood force the kidneys to filter too much blood. The extra load eventually damages the kidneys, although not every person who has diabetes develops kidney dis-ease. Diabetes, however, is the most common cause of kidney failure, and accounts for 44 percent of new cases.
Kidney damage rarely occurs during the first 10 years of diabetes; it usually takes 15 to 25 years to develop. The problem is that there are no symptoms until kidney function has been significantly and irreparably damaged.
Neuropathy (nerve damage)
As many as 26 percent of people with type 2 diabetes have nerve damage (diabetic neuropathy) at the time of diagnosis. The symptoms include loss of sensation, burning, tingling, or numbness in the toes or feet, as well as extreme sensitivity to touch. As the disease progresses, symptoms may move up the legs to other areas of the body, and sores (called ulcerations) may form on the feet.
Cardiovascular disease
Diabetes doubles the risk of coronary artery disease, including heart attack, stroke, and atherosclerosis (narrowing of arteries), and the risk is higher among women than among men. Controllable risk factors are managing weight, exercising regularly (at least five times a week), and staying within an acceptable blood pressure range recommended by your physician. Age, family history, and race are risks factors you cannot control, but you can be especially careful to follow other management guidelines.
Skin conditions and Alzheimer’s disease are among other complications, but, according to Dr. Sobel, “Most of the processes are insidious and asymptomatic (without symptoms) until they are very advanced.”
Damage control and prevention
“Every treatment plan is individualized,” says Dr. Sobel. “Controlling blood glucose can help prevent many complications. For some people, management might mean an aggressive diet and exercise regimen, while, for others, it means taking pills or insulin and other injections, sometimes several times a day.”
If you have been diagnosed with diabetes, follow your doctor’s recommendations from the start, even if you don’t yet have any symptoms. Take this disease seriously in order to prevent complications that can affect your mobility, your quality of life, and, ultimately, the length of your life.
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