Untreated high blood sugar from diabetes can damage your nerves, eyes, kidneys, and other organs.
There are a few different types of diabetes:
A rare condition called diabetes insipidus is not related to diabetes mellitus, although it has a similar name. It’s a different condition in which your kidneys remove too much fluid from your body.
Each type of diabetes has unique symptoms, causes, and treatments. Learn more about how these types differ from one another.
Diabetes symptoms are caused by rising blood sugar.
The general symptoms of diabetes include:
In addition to the general symptoms of diabetes, men with diabetes may have a decreased sex drive, erectile dysfunction (ED), and poor muscle strength.
Women with diabetes can also have symptoms such as urinary tract infections, yeast infections, and dry, itchy skin.
Symptoms of type 1 diabetes can include:
It may also result in mood changes.
Symptoms of type 2 diabetes can include:
It may also cause recurring infections. This is because elevated glucose levels make it harder for the body to heal.
Diabetes symptoms can be so mild that they’re hard to spot at first. Learn which signs should prompt a trip to the doctor.
Different causes are associated with each type of diabetes.
Doctors don’t know exactly what causes type 1 diabetes. For some reason, the immune system mistakenly attacks and destroys insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas.
Genes may play a role in some people. It’s also possible that a virus sets off the immune system attack.
Type 2 diabetes stems from a combination of genetics and lifestyle factors. Being overweight or obese increases your risk too. Carrying extra weight, especially in your belly, makes your cells more resistant to the effects of insulin on your blood sugar.
This condition runs in families. Family members share genes that make them more likely to get type 2 diabetes and to be overweight.
Gestational diabetes is the result of hormonal changes during pregnancy. The placenta produces hormones that make a pregnant woman’s cells less sensitive to the effects of insulin. This can cause high blood sugar during pregnancy.
Women who are overweight when they get pregnant or who gain too much weight during their pregnancy are more likely to get gestational diabetes.
Both genes and environmental factors play a role in triggering diabetes. Get more information here on the causes of diabetes.
Certain factors increase your risk for diabetes.
You’re more likely to get type 1 diabetes if you’re a child or teenager, you have a parent or sibling with the condition, or you carry certain genes that are linked to the disease.
Your risk for type 2 diabetes increases if you:
Your risk for gestational diabetes increases if you:
Your family, environment, and preexisting medical conditions can all affect your odds of developing diabetes. Find out which risks you can control and which ones you can’t.
High blood sugar damages organs and tissues throughout your body. The higher your blood sugar is and the longer you live with it, the greater your risk for complications.
Complications associated with diabetes include:
Uncontrolled gestational diabetes can lead to problems that affect both the mother and baby. Complications affecting the baby can include:
The mother can develop complications such as high blood pressure (preeclampsia) or type 2 diabetes. She may also require cesarean delivery, commonly referred to as a C-section.
The mother’s risk of gestational diabetes in future pregnancies also increases.
Diabetes can lead to serious medical complications, but you can manage the condition with medications and lifestyle changes. Avoid the most common diabetes complications with these helpful tips.
Healthy eating is a central part of managing diabetes. In some cases, changing your diet may be enough to control the disease.
Eating the right types of foods can both control your blood sugar and help you lose any excess weight.
Carb counting is an important part of eating for type 2 diabetes. A dietitian can help you figure out how many grams of carbohydrates to eat at each meal.
In order to keep your blood sugar levels steady, try to eat small meals throughout the day. Emphasize healthy foods such as:
Certain other foods can undermine efforts to keep your blood sugar in control.Discover the foods you should avoid if you have diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes isn’t preventable because it’s caused by a problem with the immune system. Some causes of type 2 diabetes, such as your genes or age, aren’t under your control either.
Yet many other diabetes risk factors are controllable. Most diabetes prevention strategies involve making simple adjustments to your diet and fitness routine.
If you’ve been diagnosed with prediabetes, here are a few things you can do to delay or prevent type 2 diabetes:
These aren’t the only ways to prevent diabetes. Discover more strategies that may help you avoid this chronic disease.
Some women who had diabetes before they conceived carry it with them into pregnancy. This is called pre-gestational diabetes.
Gestational diabetes should go away after you deliver, but it does significantly increase your risk for getting diabetes later.
About half of women with gestational diabetes will develop type 2 diabetes within 5 to 10 years of delivery, according to the International Diabetes Federation (IDF).
Having diabetes during your pregnancy can also lead to complications for your newborn, such as jaundice or breathing problems.
If you’re diagnosed with pre-gestational or gestational diabetes, you’ll need special monitoring to prevent complications. Find out more about the effect of diabetes on pregnancy.
Supplements may cause unwelcome—or dangerous—side effects, especially if they interact with your medications. While some ingredients could intensify the effects of your diabetes meds, causing hypoglycemia (low blood sugar, also called blood glucose), others may have the opposite effect, leading to hyperglycemia (high blood sugar).
Research on many supplements is inconclusive. Talk to your health care provider before you start taking chromium, vitamin E, St. John’s wort, or niacin.
A chromium deficiency may lead to high blood sugar levels. It may be worth a try if you’re deficient in chromium, but that’s very rare. Steer clear if you’ve been diagnosed with kidney disease. Chromium supplements might further damage the kidneys and worsen the disease.
Both vitamin E and the herb St. John’s wort can have dangerous interactions with blood-thinning drugs used to treat heart disease—increasing your bleeding risk. Among people with heart disease being treated with the blood thinner warfarin, those most likely to experience bleeding events have higher levels of vitamin E in their bodies. Other studies have found that St. John’s wort amplifies the effect of blood thinners. Avoid these supplements if you’re taking a blood-thinning medication. Besides warfarin, those include apixaban, dabigatran, heparin, and rivaroxaban.
Some people take niacin to raise HDL (“good”) cholesterol, but it can also affect your diabetes management. Niacin raises fasting glucose levels (your blood sugar levels when you are not eating) for people with diabetes, meaning the risks may outweigh the benefits. And while niacin can raise HDL cholesterol, there’s no evidence that this leads to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. A chat with your health care provider can help you determine if this is safe for you to take.
Confused about what to take? Unless your health care provider recommends a specific vitamin or supplement, it’s probably not all that helpful—or economical—to add another pill to your regimen.
Sources:
https://www.healthline.com/health/diabetes
https://www.diabetes.org/healthy-living/recipes-nutrition/vitamins-diabetes
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