The Symptoms Of Diabetes

One of the first steps you can take to prevent getting diabetes is to know when you are at risk for developing it. Of course then the next step is to be able to recognize the symptoms of diabetes. Type II Diabetes is a very serious disease that will have health effects for the rest of your life; however, if you catch it early, it can be treated with exercise and by changing your eating habits. In order to detect it early, you need to know the symptoms you are looking for.

There are many factors that can put you at high risk for diabetes, including age, genetics, obesity, and even ethnicity. Also your shape has something to do with it, with apple shaped people more likely to end up with diabetes, as well as high blood pressure and cholesterol. Also, a history of gestational diabetes can also raise the risk for women, or even having a baby that was more than 9 pounds when born. If you have any of these risk factors, then it is important that you are tested on a regular basis.

Since diabetes symptoms often are very near to other problems or the signs of aging, many times they are often overlooked. Many people can actually live with diabetes for many years and never even know it. However, diabetes that is left untreated can lead to some severe complications, such as nerve damage, kidney failure, heart disease, and even loss of vision.

One of the main symptoms of diabetes is excessive thirst. This occurs because the body has to get rid of the excess sugar through the urine, since the brain thinks that the blood needs to be diluted. Also, increased urination is another symptom, since this is how the body has to get rid of all the extra sugar. Overeating can be a symptom as well, since the increase of insulin can make you feel hungry. Also, since there is more blood sugar, often cuts don't heal as they should, since the white blood cells cannot carry out their anti-infection and healing functions as usual. Many people who deal with diabetes also feel fatigued or lethargic, since their body is not getting the fuel needed from glucose. Instead their body metabolizes fat cells instead, which takes more energy, making them feel tired. Weight loss can also be a symptom of this type of diabetes.

Many people suffer from other symptoms of diabetes as well. Some may include altered mental states, dry mouth, and even blurry vision. If you are experiencing any of these symptoms yourself, it is important that you have your blood sugar checked out by your physician. Detecting this problem early can help you avoid having long term complications if you have a good treatment plan that you follow carefully.

Nick Hurd writes about aging and baby boomer generation and how to not only cope with the changes, but live a very healthy and active life. Information for baby boomers and beyond. More information is available about diabetes and diabetics.

You'll also find other health related information like Hearing Aids for those of us over 50 and not hearing as well as we once did.

Copyright 2008 Nicholas Hurd all rights reserved

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Diabetes And Blood Pressure

Diabetics get a raw deal on blood pressure treatments.

New research shows that diabetics with high blood pressure have only a fifty percent chance that their doctors will change their medications when they need to or will give them other blood pressure treatment

Diabetic patients have a higher risk for heart attack, stroke and can develop kidney problems. Treating high blood pressure in people with diabetes is very important, because lowering the blood pressure can reduce the risk of these complications.

The recent research project tried to understand when doctors would respond to an elevated blood pressure, by changing the patient's medication or by following the patient more closely.

The study showed that family doctors only change treatment for blood pressure about 50 percent of the time and other previous studies showed that the situation was sometimes even worse than that.

You can find the full study reported in the May 20 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine

More than a thousand people with diabetes were assessed during a one-year period. At the start of the study, all patients had high blood pressure, which is defined as 140/90 mm Hg or higher. The blood pressure goal for people with diabetes is 130/80 mm Hg.

The results showed that about fifty percent of patients had their blood pressure treatment changed during a clinic visit. The change consisted of either a new medication, a change in dose of a current medication, or a plan to follow up within a month.

The lead research doctor found that many doctors in the study only took one blood pressure reading during a patient's visit. In some cases, when more than one reading was taken, the results weren't compared.

Also, many doctors didn't take into consideration home blood pressure measurements reported by the patients.

Many experts in blood pressure and diabetes think doctors need to be more aggressive in treating blood pressure.

One leading professor thinks doctors should intensify treatment every time blood pressure is high. Blood pressure should be the first thing doctors look at during a patient's visit, and it should be treated before moving on to other problems.

Patients can play a role, too - patients should ask their doctor: What is my blood pressure goal? Am I at goal? If I am not, what should we do about it?

More attention is needed in this very important medical field.

Gordon Cameron is a physician in Edinburgh Scotland. He has a special interest in Treatment for high blood pressure

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