You can determine diabetes by paying attention to the symptoms that appear. With this endocrine disease, the state of health worsens. At first, many patients do not even pay attention to the first symptoms of diabetes mellitus, although with type I disease they reduce the quality of human life within a few days. The later the disease is detected, the more difficult it is to obtain compensation. Remember the signs of diabetes, this will allow you to see a doctor in a timely manner if they occur.
Features of the disease
Diabetes mellitus is a severe endocrine disease in which there is absolute or relative insufficiency of insulin. In the first case, it is not produced by pancreatic cells in the required quantities, and in the second case it interrupts the process of interaction of this hormone with the target cells.
Insulin is needed so that the glucose entering the body can be absorbed by the tissues. If the hormone does not perform its functions, sugar circulates in the blood for a long time. As a result, the tissues and organs do not receive the necessary energy.
Pathology is manifested by the development of persistent hyperglycemia. The sugar concentration is constantly above the norm. In this disease, all types of metabolism are disturbed. Problems arise from the metabolism of carbohydrates, fats, water salt, proteins and minerals.
Classification
Endocrinologists distinguish the following types of diabetes:
- insulin dependent (type I);
- insulin independent (type II);
- gestational.
Form I diabetes is insulin dependent. This form of the disease is detected mainly in children and young people. The main symptoms in type I pathology are pronounced. In this form of the disease, insulin is not produced in the patient's body, so patients have to inject this hormone every day.
In form II, the first signs do not appear immediately, they are mild. A person may not suspect that they have any health problems for several years after the onset of the disease. Insulin is produced in the body, but the target cells become insensitive to it.
Gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy. After childbirth, the condition returns to normal, but a woman needs to be careful and follow a diet. Patients with this form are at risk of developing type 2 disease.
The first signs of diabetes
All symptoms of this endocrine pathology are divided into major and minor. Their appearance is characteristic of both forms of the disease. But insulin-dependent people mostly develop the main symptoms. They become pronounced during the period when no more than 20% of the cells responsible for producing insulin remain in the pancreas.
Key features include the following:
- polyuria - increased urination, increased urine volume;
- polydipsia - the appearance of an obsessive thirst that cannot be quenched, the patient can drink more than 5 liters of water per day;
- polyphagia: increased hunger, after meals there is no feeling of satiety;
- weight loss: with the development of insulin addiction, people quickly lose weight.
In the first form of the disease, patients can also approximately name the date when they first felt ill.
But the main symptoms also occur in type II of the disease. Their severity gradually increases. Therefore, the patient is often unable to tell when she first felt changes in well-being. Insulin-independent patients notice minor symptoms first. But many of them can be confused with other diseases, so people don't immediately turn to an endocrinologist.
Secondary symptoms include the following:
- dryness in the mouth;
- itching of the skin and mucous membranes;
- muscle weakness, increased fatigue;
- skin lesions that are difficult to treat;
- visual disturbances;
- persistent headaches;
- metallic taste in the mouth;
- numbness of the limbs.
But the main and secondary signs develop in all forms of pathology. It is possible to understand what kind the patient suffers from without conducting a comprehensive examination on a specific basis. But for the specification of the diagnosis, the selection of treatment diagnostics is mandatory.
Type 1 symptoms
People whose cells responsible for insulin production are destroyed experience constant hunger. With an increase in the amount of food absorbed, their weight may decrease. Noticing such changes, it is necessary to immediately donate blood for sugar.
Other symptoms of insulin addiction include:
- increased nervous excitability;
- bouts of causeless vomiting, nausea;
- the smell of acetone when breathing;
- pain in the heart region;
- sleep disorders;
- severe headaches.
The appearance of even 1 symptom should not be ignored. You can understand that there are problems by passing an analysis to determine the level of sugar in the blood. If you do not start insulin therapy when the first signs appear, the patient's condition will quickly deteriorate, he may fall into a diabetic coma.
Symptoms type 2
Specific changes that may be suspected for the development of the non-insulin-dependent form of the disease include the following:
- pain in the limbs;
- cramps in the muscles of the legs, arms;
- weight gain;
- deterioration of libido, problems with potency;
- decreased pain sensitivity;
- weakening of the immune system;
- the appearance on the body of xanthomas - yellow formations that occur in violation of fat metabolism;
- increased growth of facial hair by reducing their number on the legs.
But these manifestations in patients are often mild, so people don't pay attention to them. Many problems are discovered by chance during a routine exam.
Characteristics of the occurrence
There are no significant differences in the development of the disease in men and women. It starts the same in both genders. They may differ only in minor symptoms.
The severity of pathological signs and the rate of development of the disease directly depend on the age of the person. Children and adolescents are diagnosed with form I of diabetes. People over 40 develop type II disease.
Insulin-independent disorders are most often detected in patients who:
- lead an inactive lifestyle;
- suffer from overweight;
- consume simple carbohydrates in large quantities;
- experiencing constant psycho-emotional stress.
It is possible to distinguish the types of the disease from the symptoms.
In children
Young people develop predominantly insulin-dependent diabetes. This diagnosis is given to patients under the age of 30. Consultation of a doctor is necessary if a child or young person has frequent urination, the volume of fluids they drink has increased significantly.
The likelihood of developing the disease is greater in those children who:
- have a genetic predisposition to develop diabetes;
- born with a weight of 4. 5 kg;
- suffer from metabolic disorders (obesity, hypothyroidism);
- suffered a viral infection, as a result of which the cells of the pancreas (rubella, measles, mumps and others) could be damaged.
With a mild form in children, adolescents, symptoms do not always occur, they can be almost invisible. The signs will appear only with the progression of the disease.
In men
In adult patients there is a risk of developing a type 2 disease. Men are prone to diabetes, in which, when they gain weight, first of all the volume of the abdomen increases. With visceral obesity, the pressure on the internal organs increases, the work of the pancreas is disrupted.
The alarming symptoms are the weakening of sexual desire and impotence. A characteristic symptom can be inflammation of the foreskin: it occurs due to increased urination. The development of this condition contributes to the active reproduction of pathogenic bacteria.
Among women
One of the symptoms of diabetes is itchy mucous membranes. More often, women face its occurrence - they have unpleasant sensations in the genital area. Most of them turn to the gynecologist with suspicion of infection from infections transmitted through sexual contact. If, according to the test results, there are no sexually transmitted diseases, there are no problems with microflora, the doctor may advise to check the sugar level.
Diagnostics
If symptoms of endocrine disorders appear, it is necessary to undergo an examination. Diabetes can be detected by tests that determine:
- blood glucose concentration on an empty stomach;
- glycated hemoglobin: shows the average sugar level the patient has had in the last 2-3 months;
- glucose tolerance test - an analysis that is performed on an empty stomach and repeated after taking glucose.
Your doctor may recommend that you donate blood at any time without prior preparation. This is necessary if there are characteristic signs of diabetes.
Which doctor to contact
Patients who develop major, minor or specific signs of diabetes should make an appointment with an endocrinologist. But a therapist can conduct a preliminary diagnosis: he will give a direction for the necessary tests.
Based on the results of the examination, the endocrinologist can immediately provide recommendations on nutrition, lifestyle changes and drug therapy. With a disease of the first type, insulin injections are indispensable. Patients with type II diabetes are prescribed diet therapy, drugs are selected, under the influence of which target cells begin to more actively absorb insulin and glucose.