Diabetes 2 Symptoms

Signs and Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes

When people are thinking about classic diabetes symptoms, they usually thinkabout blurry vision and unexplained weight loss. But the symptoms of type 2 diabetes can be very subtle and you should be aware of these signs to prevent any complications. In this article, I will show you which symptoms you should be on the lookout for if you think you’re at risk for type 2 diabetes.

One of the most common symptoms of type 2 diabetes is fatigue and a condition commonly referred to as “brain fog”. Brain fog can be caused by many things: imbalance in the body, fluctuating blood sugar levels or stress. So brain fog alone is not a definitive symptom of diabetes, but it can be a sign that you might have some kind of nutritional imbalance in your body. Fatigue is caused by the fact that your body can’t utilize blood glucose properly to maintain its functions. Nearly every part of your body needs sugar to function properly. Your muscles, brain and heart all need sufficient amounts of glucose to work to their full capacity, so an inability to process blood sugar will translate into lowered physical capabilities.

Another symptom of type 2 diabetes is extreme thirst. The reason why diabetics often experience extreme thirst is because of a condition called hyperglycemia. When you have too much blood in your blood sugar, your kidneys just can’t do their job properly and the excess sugar is dumped into your urine. Your body then tries to get rid of that excess sugar by making you urinate more often. Excessive urination causes dehydration which is the reason why you may feel thirsty all the time. If you suddenly feel like you’re always thirsty for no reason in addition to feeling constant fatigue and experiencing blurry vision, that could mean that you indeed have type 2 diabetes.

Another common symptom of diabetes is increased hunger. However, this symptom is more common with type one diabetes sufferers. The reason why you may be experiencing extreme hunger is the lack of insulin. Lack of insulin can result in a drop in lean muscle mass which will cause you to be hungry all the time. You see, when you loose body mass like that, it can trigger hunger signals in your brain which will cause you to crave foods that you usually shouldn’t eat.

These are only a few symptoms of diabetes that you keep and eye on, but if you have any or all of the symptoms listed above, I strongly suggest that you consult a professional as soon as possible.

How Does A Person Know That He Has Acquired Type 2 Diabetes?

There are a few good telltale signs and symptoms from which a person understands something is just not alright with his/her blood glucose metabolism.

* High concentration of glucose in blood makes it sticky as well as thick so a person feels excessively thirsty (polydipsia). This is because the body is asking your help to thin the blood

* High glucose concentration in blood should mean lot of energy, but in a diabetic person it would be other way round. Either pancreas would be inefficient to produce sufficient insulin or tissues become insulin resistant to efficiently use insulin, so glucose is not burnt to release energy, so the person lacks energy and would feel hungry for food pretty soon (polyphagia)

* Excessive glucose in blood triggers kidneys to produce more urine (to dilute the concentration of sugars in the blood), so the person would not only urinate many time, but urinates in larger quantities (polyuria)

* You feel extremely tired all through as because the tissues are deprived of their fuel or glucose (the glucose runs in the blood but will not be able to get metabolized by the tissues due to aforementioned insulin issues)

* When glucose doesn’t get burned by tissues, it simply gets either wasted through urine, so there is unexplained weight loss or emaciation

* Wound healing takes longer time

* Frequent infections and recurrence of infections, especially skin infections including ring worm, yeast and Candida (high concentration of glucose makes it ideal breeding ground for yeasts and many bacteria)

* Sudden change in vision

People who are developing type-2 diabetes may not show any symptoms for the initial years. However, as the insulin deficiency advances, he/she might experience the symptoms. Polyuria and polydipsia might worsen with time.

With that being said if you have a family history of type-2 diabetes with one or both parents diagnosed with the condition, you are at high risk of acquiring it. But if you experience any of these symptoms check with doctor who would ask you to get fasting and post-prandial blood glucose testing or by doing a glucose tolerance test to check how the body is using glucose over a period of time.