You can diagnose diabetes by noting the symptoms you are experiencing. With this endocrine disease, the state of health deteriorates. At first, many patients do not even pay attention to the first symptoms of diabetes mellitus, although with type I pathology they reduce the quality of life of a person within a few days. The later the disease is recognized, the more difficult it is to compensate for it. Be aware of the signs of diabetes so you can see a doctor in time if they appear.
characteristics of the disease
Diabetes mellitus is a serious endocrine pathology in which there is absolute or relative insulin insufficiency. In the first case, it is not produced by the cells of the pancreas in the required amount, and in the second case, it disrupts the process of interaction of this hormone with the target cells.
Insulin is needed so that the glucose entering the body can be absorbed by the tissues. When the hormone does not perform its functions, sugar circulates in the blood for a long time. As a result, tissues and organs do not receive the necessary energy.
The pathology is manifested in the development of persistent hyperglycemia. Sugar concentration is constantly 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 independent (type II);
- Pregnancy.
Form I diabetes is insulin dependent. This form of the disease is mainly found in children and adolescents. The main symptoms of type I pathology are pronounced. In this form of the disease, insulin is not produced in the patient's body, so patients have to inject this hormone every day.
With form II, the first signs do not appear immediately, they are mild. A person can not suspect that he has any health problems for several years after the onset of the disease. Insulin is produced in the body, but target cells become insensitive to it.
Gestational diabetes occurs during pregnancy. After childbirth, the condition returns to normal, but a woman needs to be careful and follow a diet. Patients with this form are at risk of developing type 2 disease.
The first signs of diabetes
All symptoms of this endocrine pathology are divided into main and secondary. Their appearance is characteristic of both forms of the disease. But insulin-dependent people mostly develop the main symptoms. They are expressed during 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 volume of urine;
- Polydipsia - the appearance of an obsessive thirst that cannot be quenched, the patient can drink more than 5 liters of water a day;
- polyphagia - increased hunger, after meals there is no feeling of satiety;
- Weight loss - With the development of insulin dependence, people lose weight quickly.
With the first form of the disease, patients can even name the approximate date on which they first felt unwell.
However, the main symptoms also occur in type II of the disease. Its severity gradually increases. Therefore, the patient often cannot say when he first felt changes in well-being. Insulin-dependent patients notice the onset of mild symptoms earlier. However, many of them can be confused with other diseases, so people do not immediately turn to an endocrinologist.
Secondary symptoms include:
- dry mouth;
- itching of the skin and mucous membranes;
- muscle weakness, increased fatigue;
- difficult-to-treat skin lesions;
- visual disturbances;
- persistent headache;
- metallic taste in the mouth;
- limb numbness.
But the main and secondary signs develop in all forms of pathology. It is possible to understand what kind the patient suffers from without conducting a comprehensive examination for specific reasons. But for the specification of the diagnosis the choice of treatment diagnostics is obligatory.
Type 1 symptoms
People whose cells responsible for producing insulin are destroyed suffer from constant hunger. As the amount of food consumed increases, their weight may decrease. If you notice such changes, you need to donate blood for sugar immediately.
Other symptoms of insulin dependency include:
- increased nervous excitability;
- unprovoked vomiting, nausea;
- the smell of acetone when breathing;
- pain in the heart area;
- sleep disturbance;
- sharp headache.
The occurrence of even 1 symptom should not be ignored. You can understand that there are problems if you pass an analysis to determine the level of glucose in the blood. If you do not start insulin therapy at the first signs, the patient's condition will quickly deteriorate and he may fall into a diabetic coma.
Type 2 symptoms
Specific changes that can be suspected to cause the non-insulin-dependent form of the disease include:
- pains in the limbs;
- cramps in the muscles of the legs, arms;
- weight gain;
- deterioration of libido, problems with potency;
- decrease in sensitivity to pain;
- weakening of the immune system;
- the appearance of xanthoma on the body - yellow formations that appear in violation of lipid metabolism;
- increased 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 a routine check-up.
Features of appearance
There are no significant differences in the development of the disease in men and women. It starts the same for both sexes. They can differ only in minor symptoms.
The severity of pathological signs and the rate of development of the disease directly depend on the age of the person. Children and adolescents are diagnosed with form I diabetes. People over 40 develop type II disease.
Insulin-independent pathologies are more often detected in patients who:
- lead an inactive lifestyle;
- suffer from obesity;
- consume simple carbohydrates in large amounts;
- under constant psycho-emotional stress.
You can distinguish the types of the disease by the symptoms.
In children
Young people develop a predominantly insulin-dependent form of diabetes. This diagnosis is given to patients under 30 years of age. A doctor's consultation is necessary if a child or adolescent urinates frequently, the amount of liquid they drink has increased sharply.
Children are more likely to get the disease who:
- have a genetic predisposition to developing diabetes;
- born weighing 4. 5 kg;
- suffer from metabolic disorders (obesity, hypothyroidism);
- suffered a viral infection, which could damage pancreatic cells (rubella, measles, mumps and others).
With a mild form in children, adolescents, symptoms do not always appear, they can be almost invisible. Signs will appear only as the disease progresses.
In men
Adult patients are at risk of developing type 2 pathology. Men are prone to diabetes, in which, when gaining weight, the volume of the abdomen first increases. With visceral obesity, the pressure on the internal organs increases, the work of the pancreas is disrupted.
Alarming symptoms are weakening of sexual desire and impotence. A characteristic symptom can be inflammation of the foreskin - it occurs due to increased urination. The development of this condition contributes to the active reproduction of pathogenic bacteria.
Among women
One of the symptoms of diabetes is itchy mucous membranes. Women face their appearance more often - they experience unpleasant sensations in the genital area. Most of them turn to the gynecologist with the suspicion of contagion with infections that are transmitted through sexual contact. If, according to the results of the tests, there are no sexually transmitted diseases and there are no problems with the microflora, the doctor may recommend checking the sugar level.
diagnosis
If symptoms of endocrine disorders appear, an examination is required. Diabetes can be detected by tests that determine:
- Concentration of glucose in the blood on an empty stomach;
- glycated hemoglobin - shows the average level of sugar that the patient had over the past 2-3 months;
- Glucose tolerance test - an analysis performed on an empty stomach and repeated after taking glucose.
The doctor may recommend blood donation at any time without prior preparation. This is necessary if there are signs characteristic of diabetes.
Which doctor to contact
Patients who develop major, minor, or specific signs of diabetes should make an appointment with an endocrinologist. However, a therapist can make a preliminary diagnosis - he will give instructions for the necessary tests.
Based on the results of the examination, the endocrinologist can immediately make recommendations on nutrition, lifestyle changes and drug therapy. In a disease of the first type, insulin injections are indispensable. Patients with type II diabetes are prescribed diet therapy, drugs are selected, under the influence of which target cells begin to absorb insulin and glucose more actively.