Diabetes: symptoms and treatments

Diabetes is a chronic disease that impairs our body’s capacity to process blood glucose. There are many ways to prevent, control and treat it.

Diabetes is a chronic disease that impairs our body’s ability to process blood glucose. Luckily there exist treatments to deal with this disease and also, you can work to prevent it. What is important to know is what diabetes is, which are the symptoms, treatments and complications.

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a chronic disease caused by a deficiency in the pancreas production of insulin, or by the ineffectiveness of the insulin produced. This deficiency leads to increased concentrations of glucose in blood, which can damage many parts of our body’s systems (especially the blood vessels and nerves). Over time It can also cause other health issues. For instance, it can cause heart disease and blindness. If you or someone you know suffers from diabetes and you need to a see a doctor, don’t doubt contacting us for an English visit in Barcelona.

There are two main types of diabetes. Both are caused by a lack of insulin use or production. Insulin is a hormone that assures the use of glucose (popularly known as blood sugar) by the cells.

• Type 1 diabetes (known as insulin-dependent): the pancreas is not able to produce the essential insulin for our body. This type of diabetes is most frequently seen in children and adolescents, but it can also appear during the adulthood.
• Type 2 diabetes (known as non-insulin dependent):  when the body is not capable to respond to the action of insulin produced by our pancreas. According to the World Health Organization,  the type 2 diabetes is more common than the type 1 and a 90% of all diabetes cases around the world are this type.  Adults are more affected by it, but it is being diagnosed in adolescents as well. The type 2 diabetes is also frequent in obese or overweight people.

If your blood contains too much sugar you might experience symptoms such as blurry vision, intense thirst and the need to urinate quite often. Also, you can feel tingling in your hands or feet and feel more tired. Let’s see which are the symptoms of diabetes.

Symptoms and treatments 

As diabetes is a very common disease in our society it is useful to know which are its symptoms and how to prevent it. There are many ways to prevent and treat the diabetes disease.

The classic symptoms are increased thirst and urination, increased hunger and fatigue. Also, blurred vision, numbness or tingling in the feet or hands and finally, sores that do not heal and unexplained weight loss.

On the one side, the Type 1 diabetes can be managed by taking insulin before eating and it is more commonly diagnosed in kids. On the other side, the Type 2 diabetes is typical  in overweight or obese people and also in adult people rather than in kids. Although type 2 diabetes can be inherited, it can also come with excess weight, a  lack of exercise or an unhealthy diet.

You can prevent the type 2 diabetes with some simple but fundamental steps:

• Losing weight,
• Doing exercise regularly,
• Following a healthy diet: you should go for the whole grains products, avoid sugary drinks and drink water, coffee or tea instead. Also, it is important to reduce the consumption of red meat in your meals and eat poultry or fish instead. Overall, it is important to eat plenty of vegetables and fruits.

To know more details about the diabetes prevention you can check this page, or you can click here to book an appointment with an English doctor in Barcelona. 

Complications

Diabetes can lead to blindness and visual disabilities. It can damage the small blood vessels in the retina and therefore, it can cause you a loss of vision. This can be prevented with regular eye examinations which allow you to detect this kind of complication before it is too late.

Kidney failure is also a complication caused by diabetes. If you detect it in an early stage of damage, it can be controlled and intervened, keeping the situation always under control.

Heart diseases are also connected with diabetes. Risk factors for heart disease in people with diabetes include smoking, high blood pressure, high serum cholesterol and obesity.

 It is, without any doubt, a serious disease that is increasing and  becoming more and more common around the world. There are ways to prevent and control diabetes. If you are affected by this disease don’t doubt contacting a  MedVisit english doctor in Barcelona, so that we can provide you the best service. We care about your health.