What are the effects of diabetes on the body?

Posted By Suborna Fermi Posted on Jul 12, 2023

Diabetes is widely known as high blood sugar, which can badly impact our body. Diabetes can affect multiple organs of our body including cardiac system, nervous system, and kidney. Getting an early diagnosis and managing blood sugar level may help you prevent the damage.

What is diabetes?

Diabetes refers to the condition where the body’s blood sugar level is too high. Glucose or blood sugar is our body’s main source of energy. Our body makes glucose from the food we eat, and insulin hormone helps our body to turn glucose into fuel. If you have diabetes then it indicates that your body is not producing enough insulin, or not using insulin well.

What are the types of diabetes?

There are mainly 4 types of diabetes:

• Type 1 diabetes: In type 1 diabetes, the body's immune system mistakenly attacks pancreas, which results in low insulin production.
• Type 2 diabetes: With type 2 diabetes, your body either fails to produce enough insulin, or not using insulin well.
• Prediabetes: Prediabetes is a state where your blood sugar level is high, but not high enough to be considered as diabetes.
• Gestational diabetes: Gestational diabetes is a condition which occurs during the pregnancy, where the body fails to produce enough insulin.

All the diabetes types include high blood sugar levels, and the symptoms are quite similar to each other.

What are the symptoms of diabetes?

The common symptoms of diabetes are:

• Frequent urination
• Increased thirst
• Vision problems
• Dry mouth
• Unintentional weight loss
• Slow wound healing process
• Vaginal yeast infection

5 effects of diabetes on the body:

• Kidney damage: As we know kidneys help to drainage the wastes of our body through urine. Diabetes can affect the functionalities of our kidneys. High levels of microalbuminuria in the urine may indicate that the kidney is not functioning as it should. Kidney damage caused by diabetes is known as diabetic nephropathy. If you have diabetes, then your doctor may test you for nephropathy to reduce further damages. Symptoms related to this condition may appear in the later stages of the disease.
• Central nervous system: Diabetes can cause damage to the central nervous system, which is known as diabetic neuropathy. This damage to the central nervous system may affect your sensibility to temperature and pain, which will make you more prone to frequent injuries.
• Damage to the eyes: Diabetes may cause swelling and leaking of blood vessels of the eyes, which is known as diabetic retinopathy. This damage can cause vision problems and may even lead to blindness. The vision issues may arise mild at first but can get very severe.
• Reproductive system: Gestational diabetes can appear in the pregnancy duration, which can arise high blood pressure issues. The symptoms of this type of diabetes is similar to other types, and it can cause frequent vagina and bladder infections. Gestational diabetes may cause complications at the delivery. However, gestational diabetes is quite manageable, and the blood sugar level may return to normal after the delivery. Also, unmanaged gestational diabetes may contribute to type 2 diabetes later.
• Circulatory system: Diabetes also raises your high blood pressure, which can cause more tension to the heart. According to the NIDDK, diabetes puts you at a high risk of having a heart attack and stroke.

Diabetes also affects our endocrine, integumentary, excretory and digestive system. However, if you have diabetes, you have to maintain your blood sugar level through supplements, improved lifestyle and eating style to prevent further complexities.