Symptoms of Adult-onset Diabetes

14 May, 2009 No Comment

Diabetes can be defined as a disease wherein the body is unable to produce sufficient insulin or use the available insulin properly. Insulin is a hormone and is essential for converting starches, sugar and other food items into energy that are required by human beings for day today living.

What is Adult-onset diabetes?

The adult-onset diabetes is a milder form of diabetes mellitus that normally has a tendency to develop slowly in adults; however, factors such as obesity, high stresses and menopause are likely to accelerate the onset of diabetes. Nowadays, this is known more by the name Type 2 diabetes. This type of diabetes is not insulin dependent.

Adult-onset diabetes is an incurable condition wherein the method of metabolizing of glucose/ sugar is affected. Glucose is the main energy source for your body. It is possible to prevent the incidence of adult-onset diabetes; however, there has been enormous increase in obesity which again increases the incidence of diabetes.

If you are having adult-onset diabetes, your body will resist the proper functioning of the insulin that facilitates sugar absorption into your body cells. If this is not controlled this could be life-threatening. The incidence of diabetes – Type 1 is not commonly seen; in this case the pancreas hardly produces any insulin.

It is not possible to cure adult-onset diabetes; however, it is possible to prevent its occurrence or manage the condition. The following will prevent or manage the Type 2 diabetes.

1. Eat healthy foods.

2. Exercise daily to a prescribed regimen and maintain a proper weight.

3. Take insulin therapy or diabetic medicines to manage blood sugar levels.

4. Adult-onset diabetes does not warrant insulin injections.

What are the symptoms for Adult-onset diabetes?

The symptoms of adult-onset diabetes do not show any visible problems for years to come without the affected person having no clue about it. Some of the symptoms are as follows.

• Feeling thirsty and tendency to urinate frequently – If the sugar level in your bloodstream is high, more and more fluids are used from the tissues thereby making you thirsty. You might drink more liquids to quench this thirst which will make you urinate more.

• Feeling extremely hungry – In the absence of sufficient insulin in your body to convert sugar into energy the organs and muscles in your body will be deprived of energy. This will make you hungry which might continue even after eating.

• Loss of weight – since there is no supply of energy by sugar conversion even if you eat more to satisfy your hunger you might lose weight because lack of energy will make your muscles to shrink.

• Tiredness – lack of energy supplies from sugar makes you irritable and tired.

• Blurring of vision – high blood sugar causes pulling out of fluids from your eye lenses thereby affecting the vision.

• Infections and sores healing at slow rate – Your capacity to fight infections will be very low. Infection of vagina and bladder in women will take a long time to cure.

• Dark patches and velvety skin – this symptom is seen under the neck and armpits of the affected person and indicates resistance to insulin. This condition is known as acanthosis nigricans.