The word "diabetes" is translated from the Greek language as "leakage", and therefore the phrase "diabetes" literally translates as loss of sugar, which reflects one of their characteristic properties - loss of glucose in the urine.
Types of disease
Diabetes mellitus exists in two types - the first and second. The first type of disease occurs most often in children. In this case, as a result of damage to the insulin apparatus of the pancreas, its absolute insufficiency develops. In type 2 diabetes mellitus, insulin resistance and relative insulin deficiency occur. No matter how much they talk about this insidious disease, so far medicine has little effect on its appearance, because there is no vaccination against it. But in a timely manner to pay attention to the very first signs of diabetes mellitus it is very important that the child does not immediately go to the intensive care unit from the house, and that he does not have to raise the question of saving his life.
Signs of diabetes in children
The initial symptoms of the disease include the following: thirst, frequent and profuse urination, increased appetite, weight loss. Considering often late visit to the doctor, all these symptoms should be considered in more detail.
Thirst is the classic first sign of diabetes in children. Toddlers drink fluids differently throughout the day. Some people like to drink a lot, others need to be forced to drink at least some amount of tea or juice.
It is because of this feature that sometimes parents do not immediately notice that the child began to go into the kitchen more often - to drink water, and at night - to go to the toilet, which was not previously observed. The kid takes his every step under the vigilant parental gaze, and when he grows up, he naturally becomes more independent and does not always complain. Today's teenagers and parents communicate very little now, only a few hours a day. But if parents noticed that a small or growing up child lost weight, began to tire quickly, it is worth taking a closer look at how much he drinks water. It is water, because a child can drink a lot of favorite drinks. And you definitely need to follow how often the child visits the toilet, and whether he wakes up at night for this. Often the first sign of diabetes in children is enuresis - bedwetting. Gradually, the condition of the child worsens: weakness grows, the skin and mucous membranes become dry, bright, and the so-called diabetic blush appears. If you miss this point and do not help, a diabetic coma may develop.
A blood test to determine the disease
If there are at least slight reasons for alarm, do not look for an explanation for this in rapid growth, hot weather or the presence of worms - you should immediately show the child to a doctor. If there is no time for this, putting off a visit to the doctor for later, you need to donate, first of all, blood for sugar, such an analysis is done in any laboratory. The concentration of sugar in the blood should not go beyond 3.3-5.5 mmol / L. Blood sampling is carried out in the morning on an empty stomach, in addition, the last meal should be no later than 19 hours. Sometimes, taking into account different methods, normal sugar values can have limits of 4.4-6.6 mmol / l. In any case, due to the fear of prescribing insulin, one should not try to "treat" the child with a diet on his own. This can only worsen the condition. In case of detecting an increase in glucose in the blood, the child must be treated in a hospital.
How to identify an illness in a baby?
Diabetes can develop at any age, even in infants. In this case, the disease is accompanied by a digestive disorder, nervousness. It is important to pay attention to these very first signs of diabetes. The baby often and eagerly sucks his chest or drinks water, but at the same time does not gain weight, his condition quickly worsens. Close contact with the baby will allow you to smell acetone from the mouth, and wet diapers can also smell like acetone.
Although the appearance of a smell is not the first sign of diabetes, but a manifestation of decompensation of the disease, often parents do not feel it even in the case of a serious condition of the baby. Often in young children, the first signs of diabetes are hidden under the symptoms of other acute diseases - intestinal infection, worsening after a viral infection. In children, diabetes most often develops rapidly, but sometimes it can occur gradually. In this case, the child may experience prolonged pustular skin diseases - barley, seizures, due to the presence of sugar in the urine of girls, it is possible to develop vulvovaginitis - inflammation of the genital organs. Such symptoms can in no case be ignored, so as not to miss the onset of an insidious disease.
Symptoms in adults
In the adult population, the general clinical characteristic of the disease looks quite typical. One of the first signs of diabetes is an increase in the volume of urine excreted during the day, in some cases exceeding even 10 liters. Such a symptom is caused by certain properties of a high level of glucose in the urine. The emerging desire to drink is due to the dehydration of the body and the appearance of a dry mouth. Since urine is lost not only glucose, which was supplied with food, but also synthesized in the body from fats and proteins, with an insulin-dependent disease, a sharp drop in weight is observed.
Other signs include uncontrolled appetite, skin itching, often manifested in the perineum and genitals, fatigue, lethargy, drowsiness, and decreased ability to work. The continued development of the disease leads to the appearance of complex vascular disorders, which is expressed by damage to the vessels of the retina, impaired renal function, and progressive atherosclerosis. This increases the risk of myocardial infarction, circulatory disorders of the brain, gangrene of the legs. With a lack of insulin, the carbohydrate metabolism is the first to be disturbed in the body. Insufficient penetration of glucose into the muscles and adipose tissue of the body, improper glycogen production and conversion of carbohydrates to fats. An increased withdrawal of glucose from the cells leads to an increase in its accumulation in the blood and further appearance in the urine. With the latent form of the disease, the concentration of sugar in the blood taken in the morning before meals can be normal, and the disease is detected only when additional tests are carried out that determine the body’s ability to process the required amount of glucose.
What should I look for?
For a medical professional, diagnosing diabetes with a blood test is quite simple. But most people don’t check their blood glucose levels because the signs of the disease are so subtle that they don’t attach any importance to them.
All persons over 45 years of age and overweight should be tested for blood glucose regardless of the presence or absence of the very first signs of diabetes. It is especially important to do this with existing risk factors if any of the following symptoms are observed:
- constant presence of thirst;
- a strong feeling of hunger;
- weakness;
- profuse urination, especially at night;
- weight loss;
- vision problems;
- slowly healing wounds.
Symptoms of diabetes in men
What do the stronger sex need to know, especially when approaching the age of 50? Often the first sign of diabetes in men is a decrease in potency. It can be a signal that a person has had a high enough glucose in the blood for a long time. Due to impaired metabolism, atherosclerotic plaques occur, the passage of blood in the arteries is disrupted. The vessels, through which blood goes to the penis, are the first to suffer. Next - the main vessels that feed the heart and brain. This can already lead to a heart attack or stroke - more serious consequences than impotence. In addition to provoking atherosclerosis, diabetes damages the nerve fibers responsible for erection and urination. One of the first signs of diabetes in men when overcoming the age limit of 50 years is lethargy, apathy, fatigue. Most often, the patient's condition worsens not suddenly, but gradually. Usually, older men justify such symptoms with natural changes in the body without any treatment.
What are the first signs of diabetes in women? It is important to know
There are primary and secondary signs of diabetes in women. The primary signs of the disease are as follows:
- Polydipsia is a continuous thirst.
- Polyuria - profuse urination.
- Polyphagy is a feeling of continuous hunger, not even satisfied with high-calorie foods.
- Perceptible smell of acetone from the mouth.
If the above first signs of the disease are found in women, diabetes is often confirmed by a blood test. Secondary clinical signs of the disease:
- decreased sharpness of vision, loss of clarity, a feeling of veil in front of the eyes; fast fatiguability;
- increasing vaginal dryness;
- the appearance of cramps in the muscles of the legs, a sensation of tingling and numbness of the upper and lower extremities;
- decreased tissue regeneration ability - the appearance of ulcers and non-healing wounds;
- body temperature drops below 35 degrees;
- significant hair loss;
- the formation of yellow growths on the skin;
- inflammatory disorders and vaginal dysbiosis.
Often the very first signs of diabetes in women appear in the menopause, when there is a restructuring of the whole organism.
The degree of development of the disease
The symptoms determine the severity of the disease:
- Mild - no smell of acetone from the mouth.
- When examining the fundus, the ophthalmologist can detect an initial degree of retinopathy. The concentration of glucose in the blood does not rise above 8 mmol / L.
- Medium - the sugar content is not more than 12 mmol / L. Ketoacidosis is diagnosed, there is a sharp smell of acetone in the exhaled air.
- Severe diabetes mellitus - blood glucose - above 12 mmol / l, diagnosed with retinopathy 3-4 degrees, impaired renal function.
Primary symptoms come abruptly, and a woman can accurately determine when they arose. Secondary ones appear over a rather long period, and often they are simply ignored due to certain specifics. The fact that a disease already exists or is just beginning is indicated by everyday health. The first sign of diabetes in women is increased hair loss. Normally, a person loses up to 100 hair every day, if there is much more, you should check the body for sugar content.
Since the growth of hair is directly dependent on the metabolism in the body, with the development of the disease, problems arise with this. Hair becomes brittle, thin, grow slowly. Quite often, among the first signs of diabetes in women, drowsiness is manifested. The body does not have enough energy to accumulate the required amount of glucose in the cells. During the day, a woman feels general weakness, which must be an occasion to check the level of glucose in the body. The first manifestations of diabetes also include itching, felt on the palms and feet. This symptom occurs in most cases. Pay attention to how scratches and wounds heal. Even a small cut can heal for 2-3 weeks, again and again, inflamed. However, one should not rush to conclusions about the presence of the disease only for such a symptom, since this symptom may indicate some gynecological problems. But if such a symptom occurs along with the rest, then this may well be an alarming signal about the appearance of an excess of glucose in the blood.
Type 1 disease
It is very important to pay attention to the first signs of type 1 diabetes:
- Constant thirst: a person drinks up to 3-5 liters of water or other liquid during the day.
- The smell of acetone in the air exhaled by a person.
- The patient's appetite grows, he absorbs a huge amount of food, but against this background, the weight invariably falls.
- Frequent and profuse urination, especially at night.
- Poor healing of wounds and cuts. The skin itches, often a fungus or boils appears.
- One of the first signs of diabetes in girls can be a frequent thrush.
Type 1 diabetes often occurs after several weeks as a result of an untreated viral illness or after severe stress.
Gangrene
With diabetes mellitus, the walls of blood vessels are damaged from the inside, which leads to their narrowing and calcification. Gradually, such vessels thrombose, there is a sharp decrease in blood flow in the lower extremities. The deterioration of the state of the vessels in this disease can lead to the manifestation of the so-called diabetic foot (gangrene). To preserve the legs in this case, all efforts must be made to resume blood circulation in the lower extremities. The first signs of gangrene in diabetes mellitus often occur in patients with a diabetic foot and damage to the vessels of the foot and lower leg as a result of anaerobic microorganisms entering the body. The reason for this may be walking in the summer with bare feet on the ground, punctures of the skin of the foot with wire, a spike, and any stabbing wounds. It happens that patients do not attach much importance to such injections, but after some time a high temperature is detected, black bubbles with liquid form, swelling appears and spreads rapidly. The general condition of the body is rapidly deteriorating. In such cases, in no case should you delay.
When the doctor confirms the gangrene, an urgent amputation to healthy tissues is performed, very strong antibiotics are used and resuscitation therapy is carried out. Surgical intervention, applied in a timely manner, can save the life of about 70% of patients with gas gangrene.
Do not forget that diabetes is a complex and difficult disease that needs to be identified as early as possible. Therefore, it is important to know what the first signs of diabetes can appear at the very beginning of the disease. The course of treatment of the disease and the prevention of serious pathologies depends on this.