The Effects of Diabetes on Your Body
The Effects of Diabetes on Your Body
When you hear the word “diabetes,” your first thought is likely about high blood sugar. Blood sugar is an often-underestimated component of your health. When it’s out of whack over a long period of time, it could develop into diabetes. Diabetes affects your body’s ability to produce or use insulin, a hormone that allows your body to turn glucose (sugar) into energy. Here’s what symptoms may occur to your body when diabetes takes effect.
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Diabetes can be effectively managed when caught early. However, when left untreated, it can lead to potential complications that include heart disease, stroke, kidney damage, and nerve damage.
Normally after you eat or drink, your body will break down sugars from your food and use them for energy in your cells. To accomplish this, your pancreas needs to produce a hormone called insulin. Insulin is what facilitates the process of pulling sugar from the blood and putting it in the cells for use, or energy.
If you have diabetes, your pancreas either produces too little insulin or none at all. The insulin can’t be used effectively. This allows blood glucose levels to rise while the rest of your cells are deprived of much-needed energy. This can lead to a wide variety of problems affecting nearly every major body system.
The effects of diabetes on your body also depends on the type you have. There are two main types of diabetes: type 1 and type 2.
Type 1, also called juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes, is an immune system disorder. Your own immune system attacks the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, destroying your body’s ability to make insulin. With type 1 diabetes, you must take insulin to live. Most people are diagnosed as a child or young adult.
Type 2 is related to insulin resistance. It used to occur in older populations, but now more and more younger populations are being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. This is a result of poor lifestyle, dietary, and exercise habits.
With type 2 diabetes, your pancreas stops using insulin effectively. This causes issues with being able to pull sugar from the blood and put it into the cells for energy. Eventually, this can lead to the need for insulin medication.
Earlier phases like prediabetes may be effectively managed with diet, exercise, and careful monitoring of blood sugars. This can also prevent the full development of type 2 diabetes. Diabetes can be controlled. In some cases it can even go into remission if proper lifestyle changes are made.
Gestational diabetes is high blood sugar that develops during pregnancy. Most of the time, you can control gestational diabetes through diet and exercise. It also typically resolves after the baby is delivered. Gestational diabetes can increase your risk for complications during pregnancy. It can also increase risk of type 2 diabetes development later in life for both mother and child.
If your pancreas produces little or no insulin — or if your body can’t use it — alternate hormones are used to turn fat into energy. This can create high levels of toxic chemicals, including acids and ketone bodies, which may lead to a condition called diabetic ketoacidosis. This is a serious complication of the disease. Symptoms include extreme thirst, excessive urination, and fatigue.
Your breath may have a sweet scent that’s caused by the elevated levels of ketone bodies in the blood. High blood sugar levels and excess ketones in your urine can confirm diabetic ketoacidosis. If untreated, this condition can lead to loss of consciousness or even death.
Diabetic hyperglycemic hyperosmolar syndrome (HHS) occurs in type 2 diabetes. It involves very high blood glucose levels but no ketones. You might become dehydrated with this condition. You may even lose consciousness. HHS is most common in people whose diabetes is undiagnosed or who haven’t been able to control their diabetes. It can also be caused by a heart attack, stroke, or infection.
High blood glucose levels may cause gastroparesis — when it’s hard for your stomach to completely empty. This delay can cause blood glucose levels to rise. As a result, you may also experience nausea, vomiting, bloating, and heartburn.
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