Identifying and Treating Diabetes

Recognizing the symptoms of diabetes is extremely important in order to be able to correctly treat the condition. Recognizing these diabetic symptoms is so very important because diabetes is a life-threatening disease if not cared for with properly treatment. It is said that nearly 17 million people in the United States alone have adult diabetes.

Insulin is a hormone that is produced by your pancreas, and the function of insulin is to regulate blood sugar (glucose) levels. When high levels of sugar (glucose) are present in the blood, it can cause the first symptoms of adult diabetes. Diabetes is caused by not having enough insulin in the body, or by the body not being able to properly use insulin, or both.

There are three primary forms of diabetes:

1. Type 1 Diabetes is usually diagnosed during childhood years. The body produces only very small amounts of insulin or no insulin at all, resulting in a need for daily insulin injections.
2. Type 2 Diabetes is the most common form of diabetes and is responsible for approximately 9 out of 10 cases of diabetes, most often in adults. In this case, the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to maintain normal blood glucose levels, most often because the body is not able to utilize the insulin produced naturally. Type 2 Diabetes is becoming even more common today with the increasing obesity rates, lack of exercise, and other bad habits practiced by many people in the world.
3. Gestational Diabetes is when a woman who does not have diabetes develops high blood glucose levels during a pregnancy.

The most usual symptoms of Type 2 diabetes are fatigue, blurred vision, increased thirst, increased appetite, male impotence, slow healing wounds, and more frequent urination.

If you have notice that you have any of these symptoms and are not sure whether or not you have diabetes, the easiest and best way to find out is to do something called a “fasting blood sugar test” and if it shows your blood sugar level to be more than 126 mg/dL on two separate tests, then you probably have diabetes. If the blood sugar levels are between 100 and 126 mg/dL on two separate tests, then the condition is known as pre-diabetes and should be considered a high risk for developing Type 2 diabetes.

What should you do to stabilize blood sugar levels and keep diabetes under control? Well, there is no cure for diabetes, so the main goal is to keep your blood sugar levels under control and watch for symptoms so you can eliminate them by taking the proper steps. The primary objective is to get rid of the symptoms, giving you a longer life and preventing long-term health risks that result from diabetes such as kidney failure and heart disease.

A person with adult diabetes or if you notice symptoms of diabetes then you should discuss the condition with your doctor and maintain close contact with the doctor for help in maintaining your blood sugar levels within a safe range. The more knowledgeable you are about how to recognize symptoms of adult diabetes and the trouble they can cause, as well as how to properly treat the symptoms, then you can take control and make adjustments to your lifestyle that will improve your health and longevity, and just make you feel better overall. Many people with diabetes are even able to control their condition simply with exercise, improved diet and weight management, rather than having to take medication.