What is diabetes?
Most of the food we eat
is turned into glucose, or sugar, for our bodies to use
for energy. The pancreas, an organ that lies near the
stomach, makes a hormone called insulin to help glucose
get into the cells of our bodies. When you have diabetes,
your body either doesn't make enough insulin or can't
use its own insulin as well as it should. This causes
sugars to build up in your blood.
Diabetes can cause serious
health complications including heart disease, blindness,
kidney failure, and lower-extremity amputations. Diabetes
is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States.
What are the symptoms
of diabetes?
People who think they might have diabetes must visit a
physician for diagnosis. They might have SOME or NONE
of the following symptoms:
- Frequent urination
- Excessive thirst
- Unexplained weight loss
- Extreme hunger
- Sudden vision changes
- Tingling or numbness
in hands or feet
- Feeling very tired much
of the time
- Very dry skin
- Sores that are slow
to heal
- More infections than
usual.
- Nausea, vomiting, or
stomach pains may accompany some of these symptoms in
the abrupt onset of insulin-dependent diabetes, now
called type 1 diabetes.
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