What Are 7 Early Signs Of Type 2 Diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes is a preventable disease that affects over 9% of the U.S. population.  This is roughly 29 million people.  With complications such as nerve damage, kidney impairment, poor blood flow, and sometimes even death, it is important for us to know that the early signs of type 2 diabetes.

What Is Type 2 Diabetes?

Type 2 diabetes is a condition which makes it hard for your body to handle glucose levels in the blood — this is normally controlled by a hormone called insulin.  Often times this is because your body does not produce enough insulin or the cells do not respond to insulin properly.  It can also be a combination of both.

Obesity is a significant risk factor of the illness.  Type 2 diabetes is most common in adults; however, it’s increasingly being diagnosed in kids because of the youth obesity epidemic.

Long-term uncontrolled blood sugar levels may result in complications such as nerve damage, kidney impairment, hearing impairment, skin issues, eye injury, and cardiovascular disease.  A few of the complications, such as poor flow within the body, can ultimately cause amputations, most commonly of the legs or feet.

Preventing these complications requires diagnosis and constant therapy.  Identifying the early signs of type 2 diabetes can make this possible. The first symptoms of the disease are not always obvious. Most are asymptomatic. The symptoms can grow slowly over time, which makes them difficult to recognize. Since they  worsen over a time period, type 2 diabetes can stay un-diagnosed longer than other diseases.

Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes

Here are 7 symptoms you should look for as signs of type 2 diabetes.

1. Frequent Urination

Frequent urination is also called polyuria.  Regular or excessive urination is an indication your blood sugar is excessive and it begins to spill into the urine.  Since your kidneys can not keep up with elevated sugar levels, they let some of the sugar enter your urine, in which it attracts extra water, which makes you need to urinate more often.

2. Extreme Thirst

Intense thirst is just one of those first noticeable symptoms of diabetes.  It is connected to high blood sugar levels, which trigger appetite, and is evidenced by frequent urination.  Most of the time, drinking water will not satisfy the thirst.

3. Increased Appetite 

Your body uses the sugar in your blood vessels to nourish your cells.  When the cells can not absorb the glucose (due to a deficiency of insulin), the body asks for more fuel resources, resulting in constant hunger.

4. Numbness

You may experience numbness or tingling in your hands, fingers, and feet.  This is an indication of diabetic neuropathy, or neurological damage.  You’re likely to undergo this after a long time of living with diabetes.

5. Wound Healing

There are lots of reasons why a wound can heal slower.  You will notice that your wounds heal much slower, this may be an early symptom.

6. Blurred Vision

Blurred vision happens early in poorly managed diabetes.  This is a indication of high blood sugar levels, which cause fluid to change in the lens of the eye.

7. Dark Skin Patches

Dark discoloration at the folds of skin is known as acanthosis nigricans, also is just another early warning sign of type 2 diabetes.  They’re most frequent in the armpits, neck, and groin areas.

If you suspect that you might be experiencing the early signs of type 2 diabetes, speak with your physician right away.  Just like other diseases, effective therapy and decreased risk of complications rely upon early diagnosis. Left untreated, type 2 diabetes may result in a lifelong handicap or death.