Friday, November 21, 2008

Caution! Diabetes Ahead!

By Ned Dagostino

Most of us think of diabetes as a disease caused by eating a lot of sugar. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In fact, diabetes is a grave condition which affects the composition of our blood, the very element of life. Diabetes is the condition where the body's ability to regulate the amount of glucose in the body is seriously impaired. The basic composition of the blood is highly altered and this affects almost every aspect of our health and life. It cannot be stressed enough that you should look out for the early warning signs of this horrible, life-altering condition. The sooner you recognize diabetes, the sooner you can get it treated, and the easier it will be on all concerned.

One of the early warning signs of diabetes is thirst, frequent and powerful thirst. The body tries to compensate for the altered blood composition by copious drinks of water. Another early warning sign is violent nausea. The stomach-turning nausea is not due to eating anything disagreeable or toxic. Attendant symptoms are a feeling of breathlessness, dizziness, and anxiety.

Abnormal glucose levels can adversely affect the nerves, a condition known as neuropathy. The eye is lined by the endings of the optic nerve. There are thousands of the nerve endings which collectively form the retina. Prolonged glucose abnormality affects the retina, resulting in sight problems.

Diabetes-induced neuropathy targets the various organs of the body especially the digestive system. Flatulence, acidity, highly irregular bowel motions like diarrhea and constipation are all provoked by diabetes-induced neuropathy. Neuropathy affects the bladder. Bladder control becomes a problem which means frequent and uncontrollable urination, which can lead to highly embarrassing situations.

If a person suffers cuts, bruises, and wounds that do not heal but, do in fact, deteriorate, suspect excess blood glucose to be the culprit. The skin feels itchy, and wounds tend to turn raw and infected.

So what prevents us from waking up to the presence of diabetes early enough? Unfortunately, there are common explanations for all the signs I've described. We tend to go for the common explanation to a sign rather then getting all alarmist about it and suspecting diabetes. So when we have the runs, we tend to suspect that especially pungent curry we had a week ago. Vision problems are attributed to staring at the computer monitor. And so on and so forth... The main thing is that diabetes gets itself entrenched and no one suspects a thing!

Do yourself and your family a favor! Do not take any of these signs lightly. At the most, the doctor will prescribe a routine test for diabetes. If it comes out clear, you'll have the positive satisfaction that yes, you know it isn't diabetes! On the other hand, if the test does indicate diabetes, then you'll thank yourself for acting on those early warning signs! Take care; this is really a matter of health!

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