You can determine diabetes by paying attention to the symptoms that appear. With this endocrine disease, the health condition worsens. At first, many patients do not pay attention to the first symptoms of diabetes mellitus, although with type I pathology they reduce the quality of human life in a few days. The longer the disease is detected, the more difficult it is to achieve its compensation. Remember the signs of diabetes, this will allow you to consult a doctor in time if it occurs.
Characteristics of the disease
Diabetes mellitus is a serious endocrine pathology in which there is an absolute or relative lack of insulin. In the first case, it is not produced by pancreatic cells in the required quantity, and in the second case, it interferes with the process of interaction of this hormone with the target cells.
Insulin is needed so that the glucose that enters the body can be absorbed by the tissues. If the hormone does not perform its function, then sugar circulates in the blood for a long time. As a result, tissues and organs do not receive the necessary energy.
Pathology is indicated by the development of persistent hyperglycemia. The concentration of sugar is always above the norm. In this disease, all types of metabolism are disturbed. Problems arise from carbohydrate, fat, water-salt, protein and mineral metabolism.
Classification
Endocrinologists distinguish the following types of diabetes:
- insulin dependent (type I);
- insulin-free (type II);
- pregnant
Type 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 the patient needs 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 he has a health problem for several years from 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 giving birth, things return to normal, but a woman needs to be careful and follow a diet. Patients with this form are at risk of getting type 2 disease.
Early signs of diabetes
All endocrine pathology symptoms are divided into major and minor. Their appearance is characteristic of both forms of the disease. But insulin-dependent people develop most of the major symptoms. They become evident in the period when no more than 20% of the cells responsible for insulin production remain in the pancreas.
Key features include the following:
- polyuria - increased urination, increased amount of urine;
- 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 eating there is no feeling of fullness;
- weight loss - with the development of insulin dependence, people quickly lose weight.
In the first form of the disease, the patient can name approximately the date when they first felt unwell.
But the main symptoms also occur in type II of the disease. Their severity increases gradually. Therefore, often the patient cannot say when he felt a change in well-being for the first time. Insulin-free patients notice minor symptoms early. But many of them can be confused with other diseases, so people do not immediately turn to endocrinologists.
Secondary symptoms include the following:
- dryness in the mouth;
- itching on the skin and mucous membranes;
- muscle weakness, increased fatigue;
- skin lesions that are difficult to treat;
- visual impairment;
- persistent headache;
- metallic taste in the mouth;
- limb numbness.
But primary and secondary signs develop in all forms of pathology. It is possible to understand what type the patient is suffering from without conducting a thorough examination for a specific reason. But for the specification of the diagnosis, the selection of treatment diagnostics is mandatory.
Type 1 symptoms
People whose cells responsible for producing insulin are destroyed experience constant hunger. With an increase in the amount of food absorbed, their weight may fall. Realizing such changes, it is necessary to immediately donate blood for sugar.
Other symptoms of insulin dependence include:
- increased nervous excitability;
- vomiting for no reason, nausea;
- the smell of acetone when breathing;
- pain in the heart area;
- sleep disorders;
- sharp headache.
The appearance of even 1 symptom should not be ignored. You can understand that there is a problem with passing the analysis to determine the level of sugar in the blood. If you do not start insulin therapy when the first signs appear, then the patient's condition will deteriorate quickly, he may fall into a diabetic coma.
Types of symptoms 2
Specific changes that can be suspected for the development of non-insulin-dependent forms of the disease include the following:
- pain in the limbs;
- cramps in the muscles of the legs, arms;
- weight gain;
- decreased libido, problems with potency;
- decreased pain sensitivity;
- immune system weakness;
- the appearance on the body of xanthomas - yellow formations that occur in violation of fat metabolism;
- increase hair growth on the face while reducing their number on the legs.
But these manifestations in patients are often mild, so people do not pay attention to them. Many problems are discovered incidentally during routine examinations.
Characteristics of the event
There was no significant difference in the development of the disease in men and women. It starts the same way in both sexes. They may differ only in minor symptoms.
The severity of pathological signs and the rate of development of the disease directly depends on the age of the person. Children and adolescents are diagnosed with type I diabetes. People over 40 have type II disease.
Insulin-free pathology is more often detected in patients who:
- lead a sedentary lifestyle;
- being overweight;
- consume large quantities of simple carbohydrates;
- experiencing constant psycho-emotional stress.
You can distinguish the type of disease by symptoms.
In children
Young people develop insulin-dependent diabetes. This diagnosis is given to patients under the age of 30. A doctor's consultation is necessary if children or young people urinate frequently, the amount of fluid they drink has increased significantly.
The likelihood of developing this disease is higher in children who:
- have a genetic predisposition to developing diabetes;
- born weighing 4. 5 kg;
- have metabolic disorders (obesity, hypothyroidism);
- have a viral infection, as a result of which pancreatic cells (rubella, measles, mumps, etc. ) can be damaged.
With mild forms in children, adolescents, symptoms do not always occur, they can be almost invisible. Symptoms will appear only with the development of the disease.
In men
In adult patients, there is a risk of developing type 2 pathology. Men are prone to diabetes, where, when gaining excess weight, the volume of the stomach first increases. With visceral obesity, the pressure on the internal organs increases, the work of the pancreas is disturbed.
Worrying symptoms are weakness of sexual desire and impotence. A characteristic symptom may be inflammation of the foreskin - it occurs as a result of increased urination. The development of this condition contributes to the active reproduction of pathogenic bacteria.
Among women
One of the symptoms of diabetes is itching of the mucous membrane. More often, women face its occurrence - they have unpleasant sensations in the genital area. Most of them turn to gynecologists with suspicion of infection with sexually transmitted infections. If, according to the test results, there are no STDs, there are no problems with the microflora, then the doctor may advise checking the sugar level.
Diagnostics
If symptoms of endocrine disorders appear, it is necessary to undergo an examination. Diabetes can be detected through tests that determine:
- the concentration of glucose in the blood on an empty stomach;
- glycated hemoglobin - shows the average level of sugar that the patient has for the past 2-3 months;
- Glucose tolerance test - analysis performed on an empty stomach and repeated after taking glucose.
Doctors can recommend donating blood at any time without prior preparation. This is necessary if there are characteristic signs of diabetes.
Which doctor to contact
Patients with major, minor or specific signs of diabetes should make an appointment with an endocrinologist. But the therapist can carry out a preliminary diagnosis - he will give instructions for the necessary tests.
Based on the results of the examination, the endocrinologist can immediately give recommendations on nutrition, lifestyle changes and drug therapy. With the first type of disease, insulin injections are absolutely necessary. Patients with type II diabetes are prescribed diet therapy, drugs are selected, under the influence of target cells that begin to more actively absorb insulin and glucose.