Diabetes: Symptoms, Signs, and Risk Factors

To a certain extent, we may never know the direct causes of diabetes because the large number of cases makes this impossible to be certain what is affecting the disease’s pathology. However, there are certain risk factors that are strongly linked with diabetes, so these can be considered to have a casual relationship with the disease.

• Family history – If you have other people in your family that have diabetes, chances are much higher that you will either have it when you are born or that you will develop it as you age.

• Apple shaped figure – Those that tend to gain weight in their middle areas are at a higher risk of diabetes in relation to those who gain weight below their waist.

• Obesity – Gaining a significant amount of weight can also lead to diabetes as it makes it harder for the body to process sugars normally.

• Age – The risk of diabetes goes up with your age.

• Sedentary lifestyle – Those that don’t get enough exercise each day are at a greater risk of diabetes because their bodies’ metabolism isn’t going to be functioning properly, leading to troubles with sugar metabolism.

• History of gestational diabetes – If you had diabetes when you were pregnant, you are at a higher risk of developing diabetes after the pregnancy.

• Ancestry – Research is showing that people of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Island ancestry are at a higher risk of developing diabetes.

• Hypertension/High blood pressure – When you have a higher blood pressure reading, it can cause your body to be strained, thus affecting the way your body can process sugars.

• High cholesterol levels – Those with higher cholesterol levels also seem to have a higher risk of diabetes, perhaps from the clogging of the arteries, which slowing the movement of sugars in the bloodstream.

• Impaired glucose intolerance – Some people just naturally have troubles processing sugars, which can lead to diabetes.

• Polycystic ovary disorder – Women who have been diagnosed with polycystic ovary disorder are also at risk.

• Given birth to a larger child – Interlinked with gestational diabetes, women with larger babies are at risk of diabetes.

• Smoking – Because smoking places strain on your entire body, raising your blood pressure and causing a build up of plaques in the bloodstream, it has also been linked with increasing the risk of diabetes.

• Dietary choices – Suffice to say, if you’re eating a lot of sugary foods, you might also be putting yourself at risk for diabetes. With the high blood sugar intake, your body can have troubles processing it all. By realising that many of these risk factors are completely within your control, you can see just how simple it can be to reduce your risk of diabetes – all on your own.
Symptoms and Signs of Diabetes
For many patients, the diagnosis of diabetes is something that happens accidentally. There are typically no symptoms in the early stages and even fewer doctors even recognize the symptoms if they do occur. What usually happens is that the patient has gone in for some routine blood work, and the blood sugar levels come back as being high.
With subsequent testing the patient is then diagnosed with diabetes.

In some patients, however, there are symptoms:
• Feeling thirstier than usual
• More frequent urination
• Slow healing cuts and scrapes
• Gradually putting on weight – type II
• Gradually losing weight without trying – type I
• Leg cramps
• Headaches
• Fatigue and lethargy
• More hungry than usual
• Itchy skin
• Skin infections
• Dizziness
• Moodiness
• Blurred vision

If you notice some or all of these symptoms, it’s best to have your doctor give you some tests to see if you’re a diabetic or perhaps just in the pre-diabetic stage of type II. There may still be time to do something about your condition.

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