6 Warning Signs of Diabetes

Mayonnaise-loving queen of comfort cooking Paula Deen appeared on the Today show to confirm she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Deen is far from alone: Today almost 26 million people in America have diabetes, and another 79 million have pre-diabetes.

Like so many other health problems, diabetes is best treated—and may even be reversed—when it’s caught early. Here are some of the most common warning signs of the disease.

1. Frequent Urination
When you have diabetes, excess glucose builds up in the blood. This causes your kidneys to work harder to filter out the extra sugar, which is carried out of your body through urine. With more sugar to get rid of, the body will produce more urine—and your bathroom trips will increase.

2. Increased Thirst
Can’t seem to drink enough to quench your thirst? See your doctor. The frequent urination that accompanies type 2 diabetes can cause dehydration. What’s more, all that sugar in the bloodstream pull fluids from your tissues, drying you out even more.

3. Increased Hunger
When you have type 2 diabetes, your cells are starved for sugar because it’s stuck in the bloodstream. As a result, cells send out the signal: We’re hungry! Your brain is tricked into eating more.

4. Weight Loss
Some people with type 2 diabetes may experience sudden, unexplained weight loss. That’s because some of the sugar from the food you eat is excreted in the urine, so the calories never “count.”

5. Blurred vision
Excess sugar in the blood pulls fluids from your tissues, including the lenses of your eyes. This can blur your vision. High blood sugar can also damage blood vessels in the retina, causing diabetic retinopathy.

6. Weakness and Fatigue
The dehydration caused by frequent urination and the lack of sugar in the body’s cells can add up to feeling weak and tired.

If you have any of these symptoms, it’s important to see your doctor right away for blood tests and an accurate diagnosis. If you have diabetes and don’t know it, the disease could be causing silent damage. If you do have diabetes, appropriate treatment can get it under control.

Join the largest health conversation in 140 characters or less! Tweet what you want to talk about to @SharecareNow and let’s start chatting!

File under: In the News