Diabetes is a condition in which your blood sugar levels remain higher than normal. It occurs when your body either produces too little or no insulin hormone or your receptors become desensitized to it. Insulin is the hormone that lowers blood sugar levels.
Diabetes can occur at any age. It is a lifelong condition that needs efficient management. The essential thing to manage diabetes is that you keep the blood sugar levels under control so that complications do not occur. If your blood glucose levels remain higher than normal for a long time, it can lead to complications. If you are diabetic, you should visit an endocrinologist in Lahore. In this article, we will discuss the complications of diabetes.
Complications of diabetes
Keeping blood sugar levels well-controlled can lower the chances of its complications many folds. But if it remains uncontrolled higher than normal it can lead to life-threatening complications. The complications of diabetes include:
Cardiovascular diseases
Patients with uncontrolled high blood sugar levels are at much higher risk of getting heart disease such as:
Atherosclerosis: a condition in which narrowing of the artery occurs
Angina: a condition in which chest pain occurs due to lack of oxygen supply to heart muscles.
Heart attack and stroke
Neuropathy
Neuropathy is a condition in which you have tingling or burning sensations in your nerves. It can occur due to nerve damage. When your blood sugar levels remain higher than normal for a long time, it can cause nerve damage because the tiny blood capillaries do not get enough blood supply. The feeling of numbness and tingling often starts at the tips of toes or fingers that move forward. Neuropathy, if left untreated, can lead to total loss of sensations of the affected limb.
If a problem occurs with nerves associated with the digestive system, it can cause problems with nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and constipation. In men, nerve damage can lead to erectile dysfunction.
Kidney damage
The most common complication associated with diabetes is kidney damage, also known as nephropathy.
Your kidney has a filtering mechanism through which it does not let sugar and proteins go out. It retains what your body needs and excretes the things your body does not need. When your blood sugar levels remain high, to cope with it, your body excretes out sugars that are abnormal and damages the kidney. Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to kidney failure or end-stage renal disease. To cope with it, you may need dialysis or a kidney transplant.
Eye damage
Uncontrolled diabetes can lead to retinopathy, a condition in damage to the retina occurs- a condition also known as diabetic retinopathy. It can even lead to blindness. Diabetes can also lead to eye diseases, such as glaucoma or cataract.
Foot damage
Diabetes leads to poor blood supply to your foot endings. Moreover, due to nerve damage, you are unable to have sensations that can help in feeling the cuts and wounds. Due to these factors, foot infections and abscesses are common complications of diabetes. Wound healing is also altered in diabetic patients that make it a major complication. It is the reason why diabetic people may need to get an amputation done. To keep your foot healthy you must;
Keep your blood sugar level well under control.
Watch your foot closely for any cuts and abrasions.
Wear proper footwear. Try to wear shoes that keep your feet covered.
Visit podiatrists frequently.
Skin conditions
Diabetes can affect your immunity. Skin is the first-line defense of your body. People with diabetes have low immunity, therefore they are more prone to skin infections, often fungal and bacterial infections. You should keep inspecting your skin for any signs of infection.
Hearing loss
Diabetes can lead to hearing impairment. Therefore you must keep visiting the audiologist too if you are diabetic.
Depression
Diabetes can sometimes lead to depression, which can, in turn, affect its management.
Alzheimer’s disease
Diabetic people are more at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, according to researchers. The poor you keep control of sugar levels, the more susceptible you become to it.
Oral cavity
Diabetes can put you at risk of inflamed gums and infections of the oral cavity. Therefore if you are a diabetic patient, you should keep visiting the dentist often.
Conclusion
Diabetes is a lifelong condition that needs to be managed well. To prevent complications of diabetes, it is essential to keep your blood glucose levels under control and attend all the screening tests. To get more insight into screening tests for diabetic people, you should visit the healthcare provider. For follow-up visits, you can visit the endocrinologist in Islamabad.
