The simplest and most obvious way to diagnose diabetes is to have a blood test done in the laboratory. After the exact sugar indicator becomes known, some conclusions can be drawn. In order to accurately state the presence of such a serious diagnosis, a study of the pancreas, as well as a number of additional tests, may be required.
Many patients are afraid of queues at budgetary medical facilities and blood collection tests. The question arises - how to determine diabetes at home? There are a number of symptoms by which you can guess the presence of this diagnosis. But in order to confidently confirm the presence of pathology, you will have to pass a test for the determination of diabetes in a qualified laboratory.
Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Endocrinology distinguishes two options for the development of the disease, in each case the treatment will be radically different, although the symptoms are similar:
- Type 1 diabetes is also called insulin-dependent. It is usually found suddenly in childhood or adolescence. Timely drug therapy helps these people to live for decades - but only subject to strict adherence to the regimen prescribed by the doctor. Diabetic children are forced to receive insulin injections from birth (this is if the disease was diagnosed in the baby). However, more often pathology is found in children aged 5-8 years.
- Type 2 diabetes does not mean regular insulin injections. However, if the disease has passed into serious stages, then patients are offered to use pharmacological achievements to improve their well-being. In the early stages of type 2 diabetes, it is enough for patients to follow a low-carb diet and take carbohydrate blockers (Metformin, Glucofage, and the like). The second type of disease is usually diagnosed to women aged 40 to 60 years. Men are diagnosed with this disease relatively rarely, but such cases are known to medicine.
What causes diabetes?
If a pathology is found in a small child, then, obviously, a hereditary factor has come into play. He can prove himself later - in the region of 5-15 years. This applies to the disease of the first, insulin-dependent type of ailment. But the second type has very specific reasons for development. At the same time, it is possible that type 1 diabetes mellitus can develop not for genetic reasons, but for the ones described below (but this probability is quite small, on average only about 20%).
What causes diabetes:
- Unhealthy diet (in particular, the abuse of carbohydrate foods) over a long period of time.
- The abuse of alcoholic beverages in conjunction with an abundant snack also provokes the development of diabetes mellitus, and the pancreas, the organ responsible for the synthesis and production of the hormone insulin, is severely affected by ethyl alcohol. Alcoholics often find both diabetes of the first type (due to damage to the pancreas) and second type. If a person does not stop drinking, then his death will be truly terrible: he literally "decays" alive, amputation of his limbs, blindness, renal dysfunction, pancreatic necrosis.
- Extreme stress is a relatively rare cause of diabetes. As a rule, if stress occurs in a person whose metabolism is already "tarnished" by the wrong way of life, then the risk of pathology is very high.
- Viral infections that directly or indirectly affect pancreatic tissue (as mentioned above - this is the body responsible for the production of insulin). These are hepatitis C, chickenpox, rubella, and some other relatively rare diseases.
Does the hereditary factor play a role?
After statistical studies, it became apparent that the disease really often has a hereditary factor. If both parents are sick, the risk of developing diabetes for their children throughout their lives is 100%, if one of the parents is sick - 50%, in case of diabetes, 25% of the brother or sister.
How to determine that a person has diabetes if both parents suffer from an ailment? Do not panic: diabetes can manifest itself at a relatively late age. If there is a fear that the disease will soon make itself felt, then we must deal with preventive measures with double zeal. Diet and a healthy lifestyle can delay the onset of type 2 diabetes for decades. But if you do not follow the diet and lifestyle, and at the same time have a hereditary risk factor, but you can very quickly "sit down" on insulin.
Patient nutrition and disease progression
The mechanism of development of diabetes is closely related to the nutrition of the patient. If the basis of his diet is simple carbohydrates (white bread, pasta, cereals, potatoes and fruits), then the risk increases. By around the age of 40, women can be diagnosed even if they ate badly - and it is not necessary to have a genetic addiction or bad habits. If a person spoils himself daily with confectionery, sugar, chocolate and factory sweets, then the risk increases even more.
Modern studies have shown that if you regularly eat in such a way that proteins make up 35-40% of the daily diet, then type 2 diabetes mellitus has virtually no chance of development.
Gender-related disease progression
Insulin-dependent diabetes is more common in men, the disease of the second type (i.e. non-insulin-dependent type) - in women over the age of 40 years.
However, this does not mean that a woman cannot be diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. It's just that this kind of ailment is more characteristic of the stronger sex. The first signs of diabetes in men are described in detail below. You should carefully monitor your condition, because if it comes to a hypoglycemic coma, then the patient can wait for a fatal outcome. How to determine diabetes at home? Pretty simple: you just have to compare your condition with the symptoms listed below.
How to identify diabetes at home
The first rule is to set aside hypochondria! Many patients tend to exaggerate the severity of their poor health. This is especially characteristic of people aged. If possible, it is best to visit the endocrinologist as soon as possible, take tests and make sure of the reality of your concerns.
Methods for determining diabetes with maximum accuracy:
- take a blood glucose test in the laboratory;
- Using a home blood glucose meter, independently monitor the level of glucose and draw up a schedule by which you can judge the presence or absence of the disease.
Symptoms of Type 1 Diabetes
The first signs of diabetes in men:
- loss of consciousness (usually occurs in a hungry state);
- a person becomes very thin, sinewy - even eats enough food to maintain a normal weight;
- tremor, severe weakness and dizziness, darkening in the eyes, if you do not eat on time;
- constant thirst;
- cuts and wounds heal for weeks;
- bones are fragile and prone to fractures (which also do not grow together for a long time);
- problems with the functioning of the urinary system.
Symptoms of type 2 diabetes
Symptoms of diabetes in women after 50 years (as a rule, this is exclusively type 2 diabetes):
- unlike diabetics of the first type, people with the second become very obese, full - it is very difficult for them to lose weight;
- constant swelling of the limbs;
- intense thirst;
- cuts and wounds heal for a very long time, prone to suppuration;
- after eating, slight nausea is possible, the digestive system does not work as in a healthy person;
- frequent stool disorders;
- vision problems - usually myopia (but as the disease progresses, many other eye diseases can develop).
Weight Gains in the Development of Diabetes
How to determine diabetes at home by weight and physique? The first type of diabetes is characterized by weight loss, even some exhaustion. Despite the fact that a person eats fully, gaining weight is very difficult for him.
For the second type, on the contrary, the presence of a fat, dense figure is characteristic. A person often cannot lose weight, and when trying to go on a strict diet his health leaves much to be desired. These symptoms are more common in women: patients of the endocrinologist, as a rule, are all overweight.
Skin condition and wound healing rate
Any diabetic knows that if cut, the blood stops badly, and the wound can hurt for weeks. This is another sign by which you can independently diagnose yourself with diabetes.
This symptom is especially dangerous for serious wounds that are associated with heavy bleeding. In this case, diabetics have a higher risk of dying than an ordinary person. Blood coagulation also changes with this disease.
The state of the nervous system and psyche of a person with diabetes
An unstable glucose level affects all body systems. He does not bypass the nervous system.
A person becomes irritable, overly impressionable, close people are often difficult to communicate with him. Moreover, when the endocrinologist answers negatively to the question of whether disability is given in diabetes mellitus (the fact is that only patients with an insulin-dependent or complicated type of disease receive disability), the patient often perceives this fact as a personal insult. This is also a manifestation of the disease: constant poor health and weakness make the nervous system very excitable.
Disease Prevention
In order to delay the onset of the disease (in the event that one of the relatives has diabetes), simple prevention rules should be followed:
- take a general blood test regularly and check your glucose level;
- abandon simple carbohydrates completely;
- protein diet should prevail in the diet;
- give time to simple physical activity;
- monitor your weight and prevent obesity;
- even in case of severe stress try to remain calm;
- Minimize alcohol consumption
- if you are addicted to alcohol, urgently refuse to use it completely.
Social benefits for people with diabetes
Almost all patients are concerned about the issue of whether disability gives diabetes. The first group is assigned only when the patient cannot take care of himself on the basis of specific lesions of the internal or external parts of the body. Problems with normal glucose uptake should be determined based on an ITU conclusion. This is a special medical examination, which double-checks all data on the state of health of a sick person, and based on the decision of which it is possible to submit documents to the Pension Fund of Russia to assign social benefits for disability.
The second group can be assigned to the patient if his illness interferes with normal performance. If remission is still possible, they can only approve disability for one year. Payouts for the second group are less than for the first.
The third group is appointed by experts if the main ailment nevertheless led to a malfunction in the work of other organs, which could change the usual rhythm of a person's life. Efficiency is reduced or the patient's condition requires other loads, retraining of the employee. Benefits can only be obtained by expert opinion.