Recently, diabetes has become very common in men. As you know, this disease can in no case be ignored, therefore, it is recommended that you seek qualified medical help at the first suspicious symptoms. The main question that will be considered in this article is how to recognize diabetes in men. First of all, it is worth remembering that the disease is associated with hormonal changes in the human body, and a careless attitude to your health can lead to disastrous consequences.
Where does the disease come from?
Diabetes mellitus in men begins to develop due to a lack of pancreatic hormone - insulin. If the pancreas does not produce enough of this substance, then the level of glucose in the body begins to increase.
Leaving a person in this condition is very dangerous, since the consequences of diabetes in men are always accompanied by complications and sometimes even deaths. Often men at the age of forty are at risk, they are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and sometimes type 1 diabetes develops in young people even earlier.
Risk factors
A disease such as diabetes should not be underestimated in any case, because it is very insidious and can cause a lot of trouble. Men who absolutely do not monitor their weight, eat incorrectly and consume a lot of alcohol, are at risk in the first place. Causes of diabetes in men can be as follows:
- Often, it is those men who have a genetic predisposition to this disease.
- The next factor is obesity.
- Problems can arise due to improper nutrition.
- At risk are men who have cardiovascular disease.
- Men, like women, can suffer from depression and stress.
- Infections in the internal organs.
Naturally, these are far from all the factors that can affect the development of the disease, since there are others as well, but they are more rare cases.
Signs of diabetes in men
The main insidiousness of the disease is that at the initial stage it is very difficult to recognize, since there are no symptoms, and men often attribute a slight malaise to overwork. The first signs begin to appear only when the glucose level exceeds all permissible norms. To get to know this disease better, it is worth considering the main signs of diabetes in men:
- A sick person quickly begins to gain weight or, conversely, loses it.
- Appetite is increasing.
- Even if there is no physical activity, a man gets tired very quickly.
- There is a tendency to sleep frequently or, conversely, insomnia appears.
- Sweating increases.
Of course, not all men pay attention to such signs, but soon the disease begins to progress. Many patients are interested in the question, does diabetes affect the potency of men?
It should be noted that it is the reproductive function of men that suffers in the first place.
Type 1 diabetes in men
The first type of diabetes is considered the most difficult, since a person depends on a drug that must be administered on time. The presence of various infections in the human body or the exacerbation of certain chronic diseases can provoke such a disease. Men may notice some changes in the behavior of their body, for example, brutal appetite wakes up, but as soon as the disease begins to gain momentum, the patient may refuse to eat at all. The first symptoms of diabetes in men can be as follows:
- Feeling of constant thirst. Constantly thirsty, and even drinking plenty of water, a person does not get drunk.
- Itching and burning on the skin.
- Often there is a urge to urinate.
- The body weight decreases.
- There is chronic fatigue.
- A man constantly wants to sleep.
- A specific smell may appear in the mouth, a feeling of nausea occurs, and even vomiting sometimes opens.
If such symptoms occur, then you should immediately contact a specialist who can establish the disease and prescribe the correct treatment.
Type 2 diabetes
In most cases with type 2 diabetes, symptoms may be absent. As a rule, this type of diabetes develops very slowly, and it is detected only when a person undergoes a scheduled examination with a doctor and passes a blood test. It is worth paying attention that with diabetes, the wounds will heal for a very long time, vision may decrease, fatigue increases, memory is impaired. Considering the fact that the second type of diabetes mellitus is most often diagnosed in men aged 30, the symptoms are not always recognized immediately, they are often confused with other diseases, and diabetes is detected only by analysis.
What is the danger of diabetes
The danger of the disease is that it takes a long time and has irreversible consequences. First of all, this ailment can lead to a heart attack or stroke, and the functioning of the genital organs is disrupted. One of the most common complications of diabetes is the “diabetic foot,” when a man may lose his limb sensitivity. Also, in men with diabetes mellitus, urination becomes frequent, but over time, this problem may fade into the background. The main problem is that diabetes can adversely affect any organ of the person.
In order to prevent complications, each man should carefully monitor his body and health, for this reason he should undergo an annual examination by a doctor, in any other case, if there are suspicious symptoms, you should immediately go to the clinic.
Complications of the disease
The most dangerous human condition can be a diabetic coma. It often occurs with type 1 diabetes, it is during this period that a person can be diagnosed with a lack of energy. In this case, the body begins to break down its own fats. At risk are often people who are already over fifty years old. Consider all the consequences of diabetes in men:
- Often the eyes suffer, diabetic retinopathy develops. A man can develop myopia, and sometimes it even comes to blindness. The danger is that even the smallest capillaries become brittle, blood vessels begin to burst, and hemorrhage occurs. This condition can occur in all people who have diabetes for more than 20 years.
- The following complication is associated with the cardiac system. The walls of the vessels begin to gradually lose their elasticity, they become dense and narrow, it is because of this that the blood pressure in a sick person begins to increase rapidly. At risk are men who smoke too much.
- An organ such as a kidney can be affected in almost all cases of diabetes. The danger lies in the fact that the body ceases to fulfill its main function and no longer cleanses the blood of harmful substances, and together with the urine, protein leaves.
- With diabetes, a great influence is on the limbs. Sometimes, during sleep, it seems to people that they were wearing gloves and very tight socks, and the skin underneath them begins to prick and burn. Sensitivity in the fingers and toes may disappear over time.
It is rather difficult to say exactly why diabetes is dangerous in men, since each organism may have its own complications and manifestations of this disease, but there is no doubt that treatment is required.
Consequences of the disease
If a person does not pay attention to the alarming symptoms of his body, then this can lead to serious complications and even death. What is the danger of diabetes?
- A man can completely lose his vision, while diseases such as a clouding of the lens, cataract, blindness will begin to develop.
- The kidneys are affected, which means that kidney failure, nephropathy begins to develop.
- Encephalopathy is considered dangerous when a person ceases to sleep peacefully, nerve cells die, his head often hurts, his attention weakens, his coordination is disturbed.
- Often, a diabetic foot begins to develop. This happens due to insufficient blood circulation, so goosebumps can run under the skin, frequent cramps appear.
- The main signs of diabetes in men are directly related to the patient’s sex life, so a person loses all sexual attraction to the opposite sex.
- The cardiovascular system is severely affected, atherosclerosis begins to develop, angina pectoris appears, which can lead to a heart attack.
It is important to clearly understand that a person can die not because of the disease itself called diabetes mellitus, but from the complications that it causes to the body.
Diagnosis and treatment
As soon as the first symptoms begin to appear, a man needs to undergo a medical examination. Before starting treatment, it is necessary to establish all the causes of diabetes in men, which led to the disease. The main diagnostic methods are considered to be urine and blood tests. There are certain standards, the excess of which may indicate the presence of the disease. People who already have diabetes usually have a special device called a glucometer at home, it is with the help of it that the amount of sugar in the blood is checked, and if it rises, then drugs prescribed by the doctor are used.
If this is diabetes of the second type, then it is worth taking care of proper nutrition, which will lower the level of sugar in the blood, with the first type it is much more difficult, since in this case insulin can not be dispensed with. It is worth remembering that in women, in men, nutrition for diabetes should be special, for this reason the doctor will be able to develop a special diet. It is hardly possible to cure diabetes completely, but it is still possible to leave it in a state of remission.
Features of diabetes in men
Men who are not serious about their health can notice a very rapid deterioration. It is very important to diagnose the disease in the early stages, in which case the treatment can be quick, and the disease itself will not develop so rapidly. The main features of diabetes can be that men begin to go bald very quickly, they have a big belly, and they gain weight, their working capacity decreases, and even a man becomes unable to satisfy a woman in sexual terms, as impotence begins to appear.
The danger of latent diabetes
Signs of diabetes mellitus in men do not always appear so clearly, so for a long time already sick, a person can not determine that he has diabetes. This is the main danger that in the early stages everything can be easily and quickly corrected, but when complications begin, a person will recover for a long time and not always succeed in doing this. Gradually, the disease begins to turn into a chronic form, which is simply impossible to cure.
Diabetes Prevention
It is important not to treat the disease, but to prevent it; it is necessary to start doing this with a proper and balanced diet. First of all, you should abandon bad habits, which are far from health companions:
- The diet should contain only those foods that are rich in fiber and contain a lot of carbohydrates.
- You should carefully monitor your water balance.
- Exercising will help make prevention even more effective.
Given the fact that it is not always possible to timely recognize the signs of diabetes in men, doctors recommend that after forty years, at least once every six months, take sugar tests.