initial complaints and long term complications diabetes?
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Diabetes and Dental Problems\n\nPeople with diabetes are more vulnerable to the millions of germs that live in your mouth. As a result, people with diabetes are more likely to have infections of their gums and the bones that hold the teeth in place. Diabetes also causes a decrease in blood supply to the gums making them more susceptible to disease. In addition, high blood sugars may cause dry mouth and make gum disease worse. The decrease in saliva can cause an increase in tooth decaying bacteria and plaque build up.\n\nWhat Are the Symptoms of Dental Problems?\n\nSymptoms to watch for include bleeding and sore gums, frequent infections and bad breath.\n\nHow Can I Prevent These Dental Problems?\n\nTaking good care of your gums and teeth is very important, especially if you have diabetes. Here are some tips: \n\nHave a dental checkup every six months.\nTell your dentist that you have diabetes and ask him or her to show you how to take proper care of your gums and teeth.\nBrush and floss your teeth at least twice a day\nIf you smoke, quit.\nMaintain good glucose control.\nIf severe gum disease develops, surgery may save your teeth. But if that's not possible, you may have to have teeth pulled to prevent the infection from destroying the bone around your teeth. \n\nDiabetes:\nEye Problems Linked to Diabetes\n\nIf you have diabetes, don't buy a new pair of glasses when you notice you have blurred vision. It could just be a temporary problem that develops rapidly and is caused by high blood glucose levels.\n\nHigh blood glucose causes the lens of the eye to swell, which changes your ability to see. To correct this kind of blurred vision, you need to get your blood glucose back into the target range (90-130 milligrams per deciliter or mg/dL before meals, and less than 180 mg/dL one to two hours after a meal). It may take as long as three months after your blood glucose is well controlled for your vision to fully get back to normal.\n\nBlurred vision can also be a symptom of more serious eye problems. The three major eye problems that people with diabetes may develop and should be aware of are cataracts, glaucoma and retinopathy.\n\n\nCataracts\n\nA cataract is a clouding or fogging of the normally clear lens of the eye. The lens is what allows us to see and focus on an image just like a camera. Although anyone can get cataracts, people with diabetes get cataracts at an earlier age than most and the condition progresses more rapidly than in people without diabetes. \n\nIf you have a cataract, your eye cannot focus light and your vision is impaired. Symptoms include blurred or glared vision.\n\nTreatment is usually surgery followed by placement of a lens implant, with glasses or contact lenses as needed to further correct vision.\n\n\nGlaucoma\n\nWhen fluid inside the eye does not drain properly from a build up of pressure inside the eye, it results in a disease called glaucoma. The pressure damages nerves and the vessels in the eye, causing changes in vision. \n\nIn the most common form of glaucoma, there may be no symptoms at all until the disease is very advanced and there is significant vision loss. In the less common form, symptoms can include headaches, eye aches or pain, blurred vision, watering eyes, halos around lights and loss of vision.\n\nTreatment can include special eye drops, laser procedures, medicine or surgery. You can prevent serious problems by getting an annual glaucoma screening from your eye doctor.\n\n \nRetinopathy\n\nThe retina is a group of specialized cells that convert light as it enters though the lens into images. The eye nerve or optic nerve transmits visual information to the brain. \n\nDiabetic retinopathy is one of the vascular (blood-vessel related) complications related to diabetes. It is due to damage of small vessels and so is called a "microvascular complication." Kidney disease and nerve damage due to diabetes are also microvascular complications. Large blood vessel damage (a
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First of all contact your insurance company. They can be a valuable resource. Second, contact your local American Diabetes Association chapter, they can provide you with endocrinologists along with a vast wealth of information. Finally, visit www.childrenwithdiabetes.com there is some GREAT help available there.\n\nPlease feel free to email me with any other questions...I've been in your shoes. Hang in there, ok?
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Diabetes often goes undiagnosed because many of its symptoms seem so harmless. Recent studies indicate that the early detection of diabetes symptoms and treatment can decrease the chance of developing the complications of diabetes.\n\nSome diabetes symptoms include:\n\nDiabetes Problem SolverFurther Reading . . .\nPinpoint the danger signs of diabetes-related trouble in 60 seconds or less with The Diabetes Problem Solver. Also, get symptoms, risks, course of action, treatment, and prevention information on a wide array of conditions. Check out more books on healthy living here.\n\n    * Frequent urination\n    * Excessive thirst\n    * Extreme hunger\n    * Unusual weight loss\n    * Increased fatigue\n    * Irritability\n    * Blurry vision
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History: \n\nOcular history\nDiabetic history - Specific inquiry should be made into risk factors for the development of DR.\nType of diabetes - After 20 years of disease, nearly all patients with type I and 60% of patients with type II have some degree of retinopathy.\nDuration of the diabetes - Increased risk of DR\nAge of patient - DR is more likely to present in patients older than 40 years.\nDiabetic control - The Diabetes Control and Complication Trail (DCCT) has clearly demonstrated that tighter control of blood sugar is associated with reduced incidence of DR. (Glycosylated hemoglobin [HbA1c] should be less than 7%.)\nRenal disease - Proteinuria is a good marker for the development of DR; thus, patients with diabetic nephropathy should be observed more closely.\nSystemic hypertension - Increased risk of retinopathy (DR with superimposed hypertensive retinopathy)\nTriglycerides and lipids - Normalization of lipid levels reduces retinal leakage and exudates deposition.\nPregnancy - DR can progress rapidly in pregnant women, especially those with preexisting DR. \n\nPhysical: Funduscopy under stereopsis and high magnification should be performed on every patient with diabetes to assess for DME and DR. An indirect ophthalmoscope does not provide adequate magnification for the ophthalmologist to diagnose DME.\n\nDME is defined as retinal thickening within 2 disc diameters of the center of the macula.\nFocal edema is associated with hard exudate rings resulting from leakage from microaneurysms.\nDiffuse edema results from breakdown of blood-retinal barrier with leakage from microaneurysms, retinal capillaries, and arterioles.\nCSME, as defined by the ETDRS, exists with any of the following findings:\nRetinal thickening within 500 mm of the center of the fovea\nHard, yellow exudates within 500 mm of the center of the fovea with adjacent retinal thickening\nAt least 1 disc area of retinal thickening, any part of which is within 1 disc diameter of the center of the fovea\nOther physical findings that should be noted include the following:\nVisual acuity is an important parameter in following the progression of CSME, although it does not aid in the diagnosis of CSME because patients may have a visual acuity of 20/20.\nThe status of the posterior hyaloid; detached, taut, thickened\nCauses: Causes include the following:\n\nAfter 20 years of the disease, nearly all patients with type I diabetes mellitus and 60% of patients with type II diabetes mellitus will have some degree of retinopathy.\nPoor control of blood sugar increases the risk of diabetic retinopathy.\nRenal disease can be a marker for the development of diabetic retinopathy.\nSystemic hypertension increases the risk of diabetic retinopathy.\nElevated lipid levels increase the risk of leakage and exudate deposits.
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this could be a first sign of diabetes\n\na heathly diet, good exercise, and if necessary some mediacation can help to control blood sugar
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I caution you to be very careful when self-treating diabetes.  It is an extremely tenuous condition, and monitoring you blood glucose is imperitive.  While elevated blood sugar may give you no symptoms now, in the long run, there are SERIOUS complications!  (Including blindness, nerve problems, heart problems, amputations,etc).  Please, please, please monitor your blood glucose.  Be under the care of a physician.\n\nAnother note - Type I (childhood) diabetes is much less controllable with diet - your body simply does not have the cells to pruduce insulin.  Type II can sometimes respond to changes in diet.
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Make an appointment with your Dr. as soon as you can.  When you describe your symptoms he will order bloodwork.\n\nThese are possible symptoms of diabetes.  Don't wait!
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you are in college?  \n\nyou'd have better luck attracting answers if you spelled it out correctly and expanded your question with comments about what it is you'd like to know about the lifestyle of diabetes patients (if that is what you are asking about) -- be more specific.
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Diabetes:\nWarning Signs\n\nBecause diabetes can cause serious complications, it's important to be on the lookout for signs that you may have diabetes. The symptoms of type 1 diabetes may include:\n\n    * Increased thirst.\n    * Increased hunger (especially after eating).\n    * Dry mouth.\n    * Frequent urination.\n    * Unexplained weight loss (even though you are eating and feel hungry).\n    * Fatigue (weak, tired feeling.\n    * Blurred vision.\n    * Headaches.\n    * Loss of consciousness (rare).\n\nType 2 diabetes is usually not diagnosed until complications have occurred. Most often, there are no symptoms or a very gradual development of the above symptoms. In fact, about a third of all people who have type 2 diabetes don't know they have it. When hyperglycemia occurs, the symptoms can be the same as those listed above.\n\nOther symptoms of type 2 diabetes may include:\n\n    * Slow-healing sores or cuts.\n    * Itching of the skin (usually around the vaginal or groin area).\n    * Frequent yeast infections.\n    * Recent weight gain.\n    * Velvety dark skin changes of the neck, armpit and groin, called acanthosis nigricans.\n    * Numbness and tingling of the hands and feet.\n    * Decreased vision.\n    * Impotency.\n\nIf you have any of these symptoms, contact your health care provider right away so you can get tested or screened. Even people with pre-diabetes can have the increased risk from heart disease seen in people with diabetes.\n\nLearn more about type 1 and type 2 diabetes.\nView the full table of contents for the Diabetes Guide.
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It isn't called  adult-onset any more.  It is now called Type 2 Diabetes or non insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM).\n\nDiabetes often goes undiagnosed because many of its symptoms seem so harmless. Recent studies indicate that the early detection of diabetes symptoms and treatment can decrease the chance of developing the complications of diabetes.\n\n The most common symptoms are:\n\nFrequent urination \nExcessive thirst \nExtreme hunger \nUnusual weight loss \nIncreased fatigue \nIrritability \nBlurry vision\n\n\nWhile it isn't listed.  the change in smell can be from several factors:\n1) the concentration of solutes (for the purpose here=materials)changes with the increased intake of liquids\n\n2) The increase in excreted sugars can cause bacteria to grow.\n\n3)The stress on your kidneys from having high blood sugars means your kidneys are passing material (proteins) that they normally don't pass.\n\nIf you think you may be a diabetic, have your MD run a HA1C test and a glucose tolerance test.  The first measures your blood sugars for the prior 3 months.  The second measures how your body handles sugar.
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all are very treatable.the diabetes and ptsd may be the limiting factors.but even these ,if properly treated can give you a somewhat normalife span. but the diabetes will probably do you in a little earlier.\nbut what the hell you're still alive.the time you have left is gravy.i know several who didn't come back alive.
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I am a nurse and I was going to tell you to get check for diabetes. But you already have. so I would also get checked for thyroid disease. they can monitor it with medicine, it is not  big deal. I would differently talk with my doctor and if he can't find what's wrong get another doctor.
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Whoa... I can see there is a lot of misunderstanding about diabetes.  The thing you need to know is that there are two types of diabetes.\n\nType 1 Diabetes presents more commonly during early childhood or early puberty but can occur at any age.  Type 1 specifically refers to diabetes resulting from the destruction of insulin-secreting cells in your pancreas.  All Type 1 diabetics require insulin because their body no longer makes it.\n\nType 2 Diabetes presents more commonly in adulthood but can occur at any age and is being seen in younger and younger patients.  Type 2 specifically refers to diabetes resulting from your body's becoming more resistant (or less sensitive) to the insulin that your pancreas produces.  Most patients can be treated with oral medications that improve your body's sensitivity to your endogenous insulin or stimulate more insulin release from your pancreas.  Type 2 diabetics have high levels of insulin circulating unlike Type 1 diabetics.  Some Type 2 diabetics may go on to need insulin if their oral medications are not adequately controlling their sugars; most will be on a combination of insulin and oral meds.\n\nBoth Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes are multifactorial.  There are both genetic and environmental factors that lead to the disease.  Therefore, just because one identical twin has diabetes (either kind) does not necessarily mean that the other will get it as well!\n\nPopulation studies have shown that for Type 1 diabetes...\nIf your mom has Type 1 DM - your risk is 1 in 17\nIf your mom has Type 1 DM and had you before age 25 - your risk 1 in 25\nIf your mom has Type 1 DM and had you after age 25 - your risk 1 in 100\nIf your mom got Type 1 DM before she was 11 - the above risk doubles\nIf both your parents have Type 1 DM - your risk is 1 in 5\n\nFor Type 2 diabetes...\nIf you have one parent who had Type 2 DM before 50 - your risk is 1 in 7\nIf you have one parent who had Type 2 DM after 50 - your risk is 1 in 13\nIf you have two parents with Type 2 DM - your risk is 1 in 2\nIf you have an identical twin with Type 2 DM - your risk is 3 in 4\n\nThis information is all available from the American Diabetes Association.  As you can see, Type 2 diabetes actually has a higher inherited risk than Type 1!  There are things that you can do to minimize your chances of developing Type 2 DM, though, even though you are at risk.  That includes regular exercise, maintenance of a healthy weight, and reducing fat and calorie intake.  There are also some medications that can reduce your risk of developing Type 2 DM; you should talk to your doctor about whether these would be appropriate for you.  Above all, don't worry!  You are expressing concern about your health which is the FIRST STEP!  If you are motivated to take the appropriate steps towards maintaining your health, the odds of preventing diabetes are in your favor!!  Good luck!\n\nEDIT:\nTo justwannaknow - I think what you say is misleading.  The AMA's recommendation in 2002 was for people to take a daily multivitamin.  There is still no recommendation for physicians to advise patients to take herbal supplements and other nutritional supplements like "Glycoscience".\n\nTo hmt42play - Islet cell transplants are not being recommended for patients with Type 2 diabetes!!!  As you diabetes educator, you should be aware of this!  Type 2 diabetics generally have functioning islet cells and DO produce insulin.  The problem is with insulin resistance so giving them more islet cells would not resolve the underlying problem.  Islet cell transplants are currently only being used in unstable Type 1 diabetics.  Please do not give this poor woman the idea that islet cell transplantation is a cure for Type 2 diabetes!
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you didn't say in what stage of diabetes you are, and how severe is your disease,and how much is it under control. but as a general rule , diabetes patients are taking longer time in healing of scars, and usually in a long term disease they have problem with the big and small vessels of their body ,specially skin tissue,which can lead to necrosis and death of that part of tissue.\n besides that in diabetes patients there is higher rates of infections(fungal,bacterial). specially if there will be a way of entry to body.that is why it is always advised to diabetic patients to avoid injury to their body (legs,feet specially) and to wash and keep clean their foot,and wear socks ,and covered shoes to decrease chances of injury.\n as a medical student i don't think it is a wise idea for you to go for tattoo , but if you really like it, consult your personal physician .
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From personal experience, as long as you manage your diabetes, NO!
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I have had this disease for over 30 years... it was a gift from my mom who has had it for 65+ years.  The only complication that i recently have is weight gain.(due to taking insulin which is a protein for so long)  This is not the worse disease to have.  When I was first diagnosed the only sugar free item was TAB soda..... so i did stand out alot being "different"\nPlease go to the doctors with your grand child and learn as much as possible.  If she eats 5 small meals a day... tests her blood 4 or more times, exercises, visits her dr. every 3 months.... she will live a long healthy life.  Make sure she stays away from splenda items... this is a sugar.  Eating right and exercising is not a curse... get the whole family to eat the diabetic diet.....and play together..... let her teach you how to test the blood...have her test your blood.. see who has the best #\nThere are support groups for parents and children..... talk to her dr about where and when..... so she won't feel so "different" \nYou are a great grand parent.  I understand your worry... the main thing is to accept her.... go out for a s/f ice cream one night and talk to her about things... but keep an eye on her blood sugar levels... that is the most important...... You will be fine....
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There was a time where the situation you just wrote about could have been my fiancee writing. I've been diabetic for about 10 years now, and am only starting to take care of it now.\n   I had a lot of difficulty accepting my diabetes, didn't want to conform to the restrictions it imposed on me, didn't want to take piles of medications every day, and thought that I was tough and could just ignore it.\n    You were right to threaten him with leaving. You will have a life of sacrifice tending to his medical needs because he has refused to take care of himself. Your man can look forward to deteriorating health as complications from the diabetes multiply. If he isn't aware of the terrible things that happen to untreated diabetic patients remind him that he is risking limb amputation, blindness, kidney failure, heart disease, and other nasty side effects. \n    I hope for the both of you that he comes to his senses before it's too late. My doctor recently told me that my kidneys will begin failing in 2 years if I don't change things. I have decided to fight my diabetes, and even though that means medications and four injections a day, I am going to try to reverse the negative impact diabetes is having on me.\n     Stick to your guns and leave him if he doesn't want to take care of himself. You'll avoid a lot of suffering in the long run.