Description and symptoms of diabetes
Diabetes is a systemic disease associated with impaired insulin activity and the absorption of glucose by the body. There are two main types of illness. The first type is insulin-dependent diabetes. This type of disease is characterized by a lack of insulin – due to the fact that insulin is not produced by the pancreas, more precisely, by the beta cells of the pancreas. Doctors determine the second type of diabetes in the event that violations of the interaction of insulin with cells are observed.
Diabetes is dangerous development of such complications as: gangrene of the limbs, blindness, ischemic heart disease and heart attack, paralysis, mental disorders, stupefaction due to hypoglycemic coma.
The first type of diabetes is also called juvenile – due to the fact that they are sick mostly teenagers and people under 30 years. Type 2 diabetes develops mainly after 40 years.
Learn fully developed disease can be on such grounds as: frequent urination, especially at night; increased thirst; drastic weight loss; smell of acetone from the mouth; dry mouth and dry skin; muscle cramps; deterioration of the gums, skin and hair; slow wound healing; the formation of ulcers, boils and ulcers on the skin.
In the study of tests revealed an increase in blood and urine concentrations of glucose, which allows you to uniquely identify diabetes. After the disease is diagnosed and the doctor understands its features, only then can the treatment of the disease be started.
Is it possible to find out if a person has diabetes by symptoms?
The two main types of diabetes are developing differently. If the first type of development is usually rapid, and acute symptoms, such as increased thirst and frequent urination, appear almost unexpectedly, then type 2 diabetes develops at an unhurried pace. At the first stage, the disease of the second type can practically not manifest itself, and it is impossible to understand that a person is sick. Or the disease may be accompanied by few specific symptoms: chronic fatigue, irritability, insomnia, weakening of immunity, dizziness, headaches, constant feeling of hunger.
However, the patient usually does not understand what is happening to him. And often writes off similar symptoms to some other diseases, neuroses, premature aging, etc.
As the disease of the second type develops, symptoms of damage to the blood vessels, kidneys and nerves increase. This can be expressed in the appearance of such signs as: the appearance of ulcers on the skin; the spread of fungal diseases of the skin and gums; change in the sensitivity of the limbs; slow wound healing; severe itching, especially in the genital area; blurred vision; pain in the legs, especially during exercise and walking.
In men, a decrease in libido and problems with potency are usually observed. Women suffer from thrush.
Only after this can appear the typical symptoms of diabetes mellitus – increased thirst and frequent urination.
Thus, very often the patient is in difficulty. Does diabetes cause symptoms such as irritability or headache? It is impossible to say exactly how to identify diabetes by mere external signs at an early stage. It is also not always possible to determine the type of illness. Since such phenomena as, for example, itching, dizziness and fatigue can occur in various diseases, with no increase in sugar.
But there are certain factors contributing to the development of diabetes. Their presence should make the person alert and take measures for an accurate diagnosis. These factors include:
– overweight (to calculate whether your weight is superfluous or does not exceed the limits of the norm, you can use a special formula and a table that takes into account the height and sex of a person);
– hypodynamia;
– the presence of close relatives suffering from the disease (genetic predisposition to type 2 disease has been scientifically proven);
– the presence of constant stress;
– age over 50 years.
In women, an additional risk factor is diagnosed gestational diabetes during pregnancy
However, the only way to reliably determine whether a problem is diabetes or something else is to check blood for sugar. Only with the help of this method determine the presence of the disease.
Is it possible to diagnose at home?
At home, it is quite possible to identify diabetes with a fairly high degree of reliability. This requires portable tools that diagnose elevated sugar levels. These funds are on sale in pharmacies, and they can be used at home.
There are several types of such systems: visual rapid tests for blood sugar testing,glucometers, test strips, which determine the presence of sugar in the urine, portable systems for analysis of glycated hemoglobin.
Currently, the most common glucometers. These are devices that allow you to perform a blood test for sugar at home. The user of the meter will know the measurement results within one minute, and sometimes within a few seconds.
The method of measuring sugar with a glucometer is simple. You need to insert a test strip into the device as instructed, and then pierce your finger with a special needle. Blood volume with a small drop is added to a special area on the test strip. And after a few seconds, the result is displayed on the electronic scoreboard. The results can be stored in the memory of the device.
You can check blood for sugar with this device several times a day. The most important is to measure blood glucose in the morning on an empty stomach. However, you can measure the level immediately after a meal, as well as a few hours after a meal. A load test is also applied – measuring sugar 2 hours after drinking a glass of 75 g of glucose. This measurement is also able to detect abnormalities.
Rapid testing is carried out according to a similar method, but electronic devices are not used, and the result is determined by the color change of the test strip.
Other devices used to diagnose diabetes are devices for testing glycated hemoglobin A1c. The level of glycated hemoglobin reflects the average concentration of glucose in the blood over the past 3 months.These devices are much more expensive than conventional blood glucose meters . For analysis, not one drop of blood is required, but several drops that are collected in a pipette.
Interpretation of test results
| condition | Fasting sugar level, mmol / l | sugar level after 2 h after eating, mmol / l | level glycated hemoglobin,% |
| Norm | 3.3-6.0 | <11.0 | 4-6 |
| Suspected diabetes | > 6.0 | > 11.0 | > 6 |
If a study using portable means reveals an excess of the acceptable level of sugar, tests should not be ignored. You should immediately consult a doctor. And he will be able to confirm whether the patient is sick with diabetes, or if he has some other disease.
Test strips for testing urine for sugar are best used not for diagnosis, but to control an already developed diabetes mellitus. After all, sugar in the urine in the early stages of the disease may not appear. And in some cases, sugar in the urine may appear in the absence of diabetes, for example, in renal failure.
Why is it better to check for diabetes in medical facilities?
It should, however, be remembered that all portable tools do not have the accuracy that laboratory tests provide. Blood glucose meters can either overestimate the true value of sugar by 1-2 mmol / l, or underestimate (which is more common).
For tests, you can only use strips with unexpired shelf life. It is also necessary to carefully follow the testing methodology. Blood sampling from a dirty or wet surface of the skin, blood in too small a quantity can significantly distort the result. It is necessary to take into account the error, which is characteristic of all devices.
In addition, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish one type of disease from another. This requires additional studies that are carried out only in the laboratory, for example, a study on C-peptide. And treatment methods of type 1 disease may differ significantly from type 2 treatment methods. Also in the laboratory can be conducted and additional research:
- oncholesterol;
- blood, general and biochemical;
- urine;
- Ultrasound of various organs and vessels.
All this will allow the doctor to develop an optimal strategy to combat the disease.