Type 2 diabetes is a horrific disease that can bring forth several medical complications and problems such as  a stroke, gout, blindness, and other skin problems. This is why it is so important that a person recognizes the type 2 diabetes symptoms and signs as soon as possible, as the disease can be controlled with the proper lifestyle program such as Kathy Smith’s Project You Type 2.

Here are some of the common type 2 diabetes symptoms to be on the look out for, especially if you are considered overweight or obese.

Fatigue

When your body deprives your cells of sugar, you become fatigues because you do not have the energy source anymore.

Increase thirst with frequent urination

When excess sugar builds up in your blood stream, it pulls the water and fluids from your tissues and cells, which leaves you constantly thirsty. The result is that you drink more than normal and have to urinate more than normal.

Blurry vision

This goes along the same lines as increased thirst. When sugar pulls the fluid away from the lenses of your eyes, you start to have trouble with your eyesight and it becomes blurry. You may not be able to focus clearly on objects.

Sores are slow-healing

Type 2 diabetes affects your body in that it takes much longer to heal your sores and infections. Your body does not have the proper energy to heal your body quickly anymore.

Increased hunger

When you don’t have enough insulin your body to move the sugar into your cells, your body craves the energy and food, even after you may have just eaten. This type 2 diabetes symptom actually worsens the effect of the disease as it can make a person gain even more weight.

If you concerned that you are suffering from at least 2 or more of the above type 2 diabetes symptoms, you need to see your doctor as soon as possible. The quicker that you are diagnosed with the disease, the quicker you can change your life and start fighting it.

The American Diabetes Association is recommending a lifestyle program called Project You Type 2, which was developed by fitness and nutritional expert Kathy Smith to change the way you live to fight off type 2 diabetes.

The good part about recognizing type 3 diabetes symptoms is that most of the time, the disease can be controlled with healthy lifestyle programs like Project You Type 2 and medicine may not be needed.

Diabetes affects the manner in which the body handles carbohydrates, fats and proteins. If neglected, diabetes can have serious complications. The diabetic people have high blood sugar level. The blood sugar level is regulated by insulin – a hormone produced by the pancreas, which depends on your eating habits.

Diabetes is a serious disease. But the startling truth is that diabetes is reversible. Diabetes is the number one cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD). This disease is a condition where the body is unable to automatically regulate blood glucose levels, resulting in too much glucose (a sugar) in the blood. Diabetes is a chronic disease that affects as many as 16 million Americans.

Actually, there is no clear symptom for diabetes. The most common symptoms of diabetes are as follow:

- being all the time thirsty
- frequent urination
- increased hunger
- feeling all the time tired; having an excessive fatigue,

On the other hand, there are some other symptoms of diabetes that are prescribed as diabetes complications in fact. These symptoms are:

- vision changes;
- recurrent skin infections very difficult to heal;
- tingling or numbness you may feel in your extremities;
- gums disorders;
- Hair loss and many others.

There are two different types of diabetes.

Type I Diabetes (juvenile diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes): The reason for type I diabetes is due to pancreas unability to produce insulin.

Type II Diabetes (non insulin dependent diabetes or adult onset diabetes): This diabetes is a result of body tissues becoming resistant to insulin. It is usually hereditary.

Type 2 Diabetes is more common than Type 1 Diabetes. Type 2 diabetes is a life-long disease marked by high levels of sugar in the blood. Conditions associated with type 2 diabetes include hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia. Type 2 diabetes may account for about 90% to 95% of all diagnosed cases of diabetes. Up to two-thirds of people with type 2 diabetes have no symptoms. Obesity is the single most important risk factor for type 2 diabetes. An estimated 20% of all cases of new onset type 2 diabetes are in individuals between the ages of 9-19. The more you know about type 2 diabetes, the more you’ll be able to take the right steps to take control of your condition.

If neglected, diabetes can lead to various complications such as damage to the kidneys, heart disease, nerve damage, hypoglycemia (drastic reduction in glucose levels). Diabetes is a serious disease and there is no treatment of it. However, it can be brought under control by proper diabetic diet.

There is amazing technology and medicine today to help you cope with diabetes.

Below is a list of the top symptoms for users that may have Type 2 Diabetes:

Any of the Type 1 symptoms listed above: Any of the symptoms listed above can and probably will be apparent in an individual that has Type 1 diabetes.

Tingling or Numbness in Legs, Feet, or Fingers: You may have a burning sensation or heightened sensitivity in these extremities or on other spots of your skin. Symptoms, such as leg cramps can appear or worsen at night time. These may be signs that circulation is poor or nerve damage is beginning to progress.

Frequent Infections: Diabetes weakens the body’s defenses against invasions of bacteria. Infections of the gums, urinary tract, or skin can keep recurring and take a long time to clear up. This shows that the disease may have begun interfering with the immune system.

Itching of Skin and Genitals : This is the result of an underlying infection or dehydration, a common by-product of diabetes.

Slow Healing of Cuts and Bruises : Diabetes has affects how cells use the nutrients taken from food. The body may have difficult repairing damaged tissue. Diabetes is also known to thicken blood vessels, slowing circulation and preventing wounds from receiving nutrients and oxygen.

The problem millions of people face a year is that these symptoms can be overlooked and even blamed for other conditions. You have to make sure that your blood sugar level is checked yearly, at the very least, and more frequently if there are manifestations of any of the symptoms above.

Below is a list of the top symptoms for women that may have gestational diabetes:

• Many women experience no symptoms at all
• Thirst
• Hunger
• Urination increase
• Fatigue
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Bladder infection
• Vaginal infection

The symptoms above should be used as a resource to diagnose yourself with diabetes, it should simply be a resource to pre-diagnose yourself. The only way to truly know if you have diabetes or not is to visit the doctor and be tested. If you have any slight assumption in your mind that you may have diabetes, then visit the doctor immediately, do not leave this disease untreated or it could result in a very dangerous and possibly fatal result.

Diabetes is a defect in the body’s ability to convert glucose to energy. It is caused due to insufficient production of glucose by the pancreas. In diabetes patients, the production of glucose is impaired.

What are the symptoms of Diabetes?

Patients with Type-1 diabetes usually develop symptoms over a short period of time, and the condition is often diagnosed in an emergency setting.

Symptoms of type 1 diabetes:

Increased thirst
Fatigue
Nausea
Increased urination
Weight loss in spite of increased appetite
Vomiting

However, because Type-2 diabetes develops slowly, some people with high blood sugar experience no symptoms at all.

Symptoms of type 2 diabetes:

Increased thirst
Impotence in men
Increased appetite
Increased urination
Blurred vision
Fatigue
Slow-healing infections

How to diagnose diabetes?

The diagnosis of diabetes is made by a simple blood test measuring blood glucose level. Usually blood glucose level tests are repeated on a subsequent day to confirm the diagnosis. Your health care team may also request that you have a glucose tolerance test. If two hours after taking the glucose drink your glucose level is 200 or above, you will be diagnosed as having diabetes.

How can I control diabetes?

Gather all the information about diabetes, its symptoms and causes
Check your blood glucose level regularly
If find any symptom of diabetes, visit your health care team for diagnosis of diabetes
Ask your health care team about how to check blood glucose level at home
Stop smoking
Exercise daily
Follow a healthy meal plan
Check your vision at regular intervals, If found blurred visit your health care team
Check your feet regularly for checking the occurrence of diabetes
If you are diabetic, monitor you diabetes regularly
Follow instructions of health care team strictly
Avoid sweet ingredients, use sugar free food

Can diabetes be cured?

As yet, there is no treatment for either type of diabetes, although there are many ways of keeping diabetes in control. Studies have shown that good control of blood glucose (blood sugar) is the key to avoid diabetic complications later.

What are the treatment options to cure diabetes?

Diabetes is incurable. The only option is to prevent ourselves from diabetes or to keep diabetes under control.

Is diabetes a hereditary disease?

You are at higher risk of Type 2 diabetes if you have a parent, brother or sister with diabetes.

Complications of Diabetes

If you have diabetes, you are much more likely to have a risk of stroke, heart disease, or a heart attack. In fact, 2 out of 3 people with diabetes die from stroke or heart disease. There are three conditions that make people with diabetes vulnerable to foot problems. These are vascular disease and foot deformities. About 30 percent of patients with Type 1 diabetes and 10 to 40 percent of those with Type 2 diabetes eventually will suffer from kidney failure. Diabetes also may cause damage to nerves in your body.

Diabetes occurs when the body’s ability to react to insulin gets affected. The insulin is your body hormone that allows your blood sugar (glucose) to enter body cells. When too much glucose enters the blood, this leads to the elevated amount of blood glucose, which it can cause glucose spillage towards the urine. This is the primary reason why one of the most classic diabetes symptoms, frequent urination, plagues the patient.

Because elevated glucose level is beyond normal, your body cells are energy-starved and consequently leading to the damage in your nerves, kidneys, eyes, blood vessels and your heart. The increased amount of glucose appears when the sugar of your body falls too low. It then increases production of sugar. This process starts when the pancreas releases the hormone called glucagons. The stored glycogen will be converted back into the glucose by your liver and muscles.

How are diabetes symptoms diagnosed?

Diagnosing diabetes patients may vary, and is based according to the duration and range of the high blood sugar levels. Patients with type 2 diabetes are often diagnosed relatively slowly as compared to people with type 1 diabetes, to which it may take only after weeks or some months. Symptoms may also progress slowly and mildly.

Some of the most specific and common early diabetes symptoms are:

-    Skin irritation and diseases

-    Skin infections

-    Poor skin healing

-    Athlete’s foot

-    Sexual problem

-    Unusual vaginal dryness

-    Erectile failure (to male patients)

-    Premature menopause (to female patients)

-    Absence of menstrual periods

-    Paresthesias

-    Peripheral neuropathy

-    Urinary tract infection

-    Blurry vision

-    Malaise

-    Drowsiness

-    Numbness of the hands

-    Weight loss or weight gain

Other more extreme diabetes symptoms are:

-    Excessive urination

-    Excessive thirstiness

-    Dehydration

-    Weight loss even with an increased appetite

-    Tiredness, fatigue, nausea, and vomiting

-    Excessive hunger

-    More bladder, skin and vaginal infections

-    Serious blurry vision

-    Headache

-    Muscle aches, weakness and cramps

-    Acne

-    Increased sexual problems because of erectile failure for men, and vaginal dryness for women

-    Cessation of menstrual periods

Other diabetes symptoms:

-    Gums are bleeding

-    Unusual noise or buzzing in the ear

-    Feet numbness or tingling

-    Skin itching

-    Diarrhea

-    Confusion

-    Depression

Complications associated to diabetes symptoms:

-    Kidney diseases

-    Diabetic retinopathy

-    Sciatica

-    Heart diseases and

-    Stroke

As those mentioned symptoms might occur at a later time for a patient, the usual situation is delayed scheduling of the check-up. This is not a good idea as complications may increase over time, making it even harder to treat and manage the disease. In this case, it is extremely important to check with the doctor in as early as possible to prevent more damage to the body. Another, it is important to note that diabetes is one of the lifelong diseases, and one that does not infect other people upon contact.

Here is a list of what you should be looking out for if you think you may have diabetes:

• Irritability
• Blurry vision
• Constantly urinating
• Always thirsty
• Always hungry
• Sudden weight loss
• Continued fatigue

Type 1 diabetes is also known as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM). It’s less common in the US because the most severe cases usually develop within a few days or weeks. With IDDM, the lack of insulin stems from the destruction of beta cells. The symptoms associated with IDDM are very distinct:

Polydipsia : An extreme thirst that is due to frequent urination. The body is signaling for lost fluids to be replaced. Dehydration will occur if the condition is not caught immediately.

Polyuria : Urination that comes frequently and in large doses is a symptom of diabetes. The body rushes fluids through the kidney to dilute the unusually high levels of sugar in the urine.

Polyphagia: This is a feeling of unusual hunger. The body believes it is starving because glucose is not reaching its cells to provide the proper nutrients.

Extreme Weight Loss: There are many Type I diabetes patients that are at or below their ideal body weight. When diabetes begins, they suddenly lose a great deal of weight – as much as 15 or more pounds in a week. Weight loss happens even if the individual has a good diet and is eating correctly. The lack of insulin simply means that calories, in the form of glucose are being sent out through the urine and the body is beginning to burn fat reserves.

Irritability: In young people especially, crankiness, crying, and confusion may warn that diabetes is on the horizon. A child may seem to very inattentive and generally confused about what is going on.

Weakness: Weakness is a symptom because muscle cells are not receiving their usual fuel and energy. Fatigue is a symptom for many illnesses and diseases which is a good reason why diabetes can go unrecognized for a long period of time. You should be concerned if your child becomes restless, tired, or drowsy all of a sudden for no reason. There are many people that report stomach pain, leg pain, chest pain, and having difficulty breathing.

Blurred Vision: Excess glucose can be seeping into the eye, which changes the shape of the lens. The difficult in focusing or changes in eyesight from one day to the next – such as being nearsighted to having normal vision are possible symptoms for diabetes.

Nausea/Vomiting: Nausea and vomiting can happen before ketoacidosis, as poisonous ketone acids build up in the blood and the body must resort to burning fat deposits for energy.

While this list gives you a good indication of Type 1 diabetes symptoms, the only true way to know if you have diabetes is to visit your doctor.

Type 1 Diabetes Symptom
Without an adequate supply of insulin glucose builds up in the bloodstream instead of being used by the cells. The body is unable to use this excess glucose for energy despite the high levels in the bloodstream which can lead to an increase in both hunger and fatigue. Another type 1 diabetes symptom is frequent urination, which in turn will lead to excessive thirst.
It can take some years, but eventually the insulin producing beta cells of the pancreas are completely destroyed by the body’s own immune system. Once no more insulin is being produced it needs to be supplied from another source, often insulin injections, in order to help the body function properly.

Other specific type 1 diabetes symptoms are:
* weight loss despite normal or increased appetite

* blurred vision

* nausea and vomiting

* abdominal pain

* fatigue

* absence of menstruation in women

Diagnostic approach
* urinalysis shows glucose and ketone bodies in the urine

* fasting glucose level of 126 mg/dL or higher

* random (non fasting) blood glucose level exceeding 200 mg/dL (should be confirmed with a fasting glucose test)

* insulin test

* C-peptide test low or undetectable levels of the protein C-peptide, a by-product of insulin production.

Treatment and care
Occasionally a newly diagnosed diabetes patient may require hospitalization to initially regulate insulin levels. However, since diabetes is a chronic disease the emphasis will be on managing both the short and long term diabetes-related problems. Patient education plays an important role in the ongoing management and dietary changes are almost always necessary together with self glucose monitoring and long term glycemic control.
A long term goal is to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease and stroke as diabetes sufferers tend to be at higher risk. Lifestyle changes are often required to manage this risk. Increased exercise, stopping smoking and an appropriate diet are all required. These changes can allow a sufferer to take control of their disease rather than allowing the diabetes to take control of them.

The main gestational diabetes symptom indicative of the disease is the elevation of the blood sugar levels. Hence, great care should be taken that high blood sugar levels should be treated with utmost urgency in order to avoid any complications that can affect the woman’s pregnant condition. The following information about gestational diabetes may be useful to any pregnant woman:

The Root Causes of Gestational Diabetes

Pregnancy involves the active participation of your placenta as it produces hormones to sustain you and the developing baby in your womb. However, these hormones have the tendency to render your cells resistant to insulin.

As you enter the second and third trimesters, the more hormones are secreted since your pregnant body demands it; this however makes it more difficult for the insulin to help your cells absorb glucose.

The pancreas tries to help by producing more insulin to thwart the insulin resistance of the cells, however, there is now an over production of insulin, which was not successful in opening the cells to glucose absorption. Glucose in the blood increases, insulin level increases yet the body cells remain wanting in glucose supplement, due to its resistance to insulin.

You may now experience excessive thirstiness and frequently urinate to pass the excess glucose out of your system. These now are the gestational diabetes symptoms taking place.

Who are Prone to Gestational Diabetes?

1. Gestational diabetes may occur in any woman who is 25 years or older, but some women have greater risks in developing gestational diabetes.

2. Women with familial history of developing gestational diabetes from where she may have acquired the genetic deficiency.

3. Women who were pregnant before and likewise developed gestational diabetes during the previous pregnancy. Usually this is true among women whose baby weighed about 9 pounds upon delivery or those who experienced an unexplained stillbirth.

4. Pregnant women who were already overweight even before the onset of the pregnancy.

5. For unexplained reasons, statistics show that women who belonged to the following ethnicity: African, Hispanics, American Indian or Asian are prone to develop gestational diabetes during their pregnancies.

Managing Gestational Diabetes during Pregnancy

Address your pregnancy with more concern by making more trips to your health care provider for pre-natal checkups. This is very important particularly during the last three months of pregnancy for constant monitoring of your blood sugar level.

Ask your health care provider for a referral, regarding other health professionals who can help you in managing your gestational diabetes during the term of your pregnancy. This may be an endocrinologist, a registered dietitian or a diabetes educator. In extreme cases, your health care provider may refer you to a doctor who specializes in high-risk pregnancies.

These professionals can help you in all aspects of gestational diabetes to ensure that your diabetes disorder will not lead to any complications that may endanger your life and that of your baby’s.

If you are among those women who have a high risk of developing gestational diabetes, do not wait for gestational diabetes symptoms to take place before taking the proper preventive courses of action.

Type 2 Diabetes is the most common type of diabetes. This disease exists in all populations, but prevalence varies greatly, i.e., 1% in Japan, and greater than 40% in the Pima Indians of Arizona. In whites the figure is somewhere between 1-2 percent of the entire population. The high incidence of Type 2 Diabetes in certain groups such as the Pima Indians appears to be a relatively recent development that followed a change in the type of food intake (from relatively little food to plenty of food). With this came the development of obesity within their culture which results in diabetes developing in those that are genetically predisposed.

Risk factors for type 2 diabetes

People aged 45 and over who are obese or overweight, have high blood pressure or have a first-degree relative with type 2 diabetes.

People with cardiovascular disease such as heart attack, angina, stroke, or narrowed blood vessels.

Women with polycystic ovarian syndrome who are overweight.

The most common symptoms of diabetes type 2 for adults are: excessive thirst, increased urination, fatigue, and blurred vision. Children may experience symptoms that differ from the ones listed above

Diabetes Symptoms

Many people have no signs or symptoms. Diabetes symptoms can also be so mild that you might not even notice them. Nearly six million people in the United States have type 2 diabetes and do not know it.

Type 2 Diabetes Symptoms

blurry vision
cuts or sores that are slow to heal
increased urination
increased appetite

urinate frequently. The kidneys respond to high levels of glucose in the blood by flushing out the extra glucose in urine. A child with a high blood sugar level needs to urinate more frequently and in larger volumes.

Drink a lot of liquids. Because the child is peeing so frequently and losing so much fluid, he or she can become very thirsty. He or she drinks a lot in an attempt to keep the levels of body water normal.
Blurred vision, skin that is dry or itchy, frequent infections or cuts and bruises that take a long time to heal are also signs that something is amiss. Again, when these signs are associated with diabetes, they are the result of high glucose levels in the body. If you notice any of the above signs, schedule an appointment with your doctor. He or she will be able to tell you if you have reason to be concerned about a diagnosis of diabetes.