Signs of Diabetes

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Diabetes may develop either rapidly in the case of Type 1 Diabetes, or gradually in Type 2 Diabetes. The symptoms may lead a patient show him/herself to the general physician, who may diagnose diabetes if he sees some positive signs which are given below:

The first sign of diabetes is an increase in blood sugar. The physician may order a glucose tolerance test and/or a fasting blood glucose level test. If they are impaired or positive in two different sittings, a person is diagnosed to be diabetic.

Another diagnostic test that tells the status of blood sugar levels since last 3 months is the HbA1C test. This is known as glycated or glycosylated hemoglobin. The American Diabetes Association takes this also as a diagnostic sign, in order to consider the likelihood of diabetes in a patient.

In Type 1 diabetes, patients may present a situation known as diabetic ketoacidosis. They may say that their mouth smells of acetone (a sweet smell), and also they may present a rapid and deep breathing which is in clinical terms, known as Kussmaul breathing. This breathing is because of the accumulation of acid in the blood, which leads to the person breathing rapidly in order to exhale more carbon dioxide and inhale oxygen. Associated with this may be nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain.

If you are regularly going to your physician, or if he is your family doctor, along with you, he might be noticing your weight loss. Suspecting diabetes, he may ask you if you are having any changes in vision orblurred vision. If you are, he might perform an eye test, known as fundoscopy in order to see the inside of your eye and its lens.

There are many skin changes which may be as presenting signs to your physician. They are known as ‘Diabetic Dermadromes’. For example, waxy skin may be noticed in roughly 50% of the patients. Hence, some or all of these skin lesions can be showing signs in any diabetic patient.

On examination, the patient may also be found to have superficial wounds and infections. This is because high blood sugar levels decrease the ability of the white blood cells, to perform their actions efficiently. However, these might not be noticed early during the course of diabetes and maybe seen late in onset.
On questioning, the patient may also reveal that he is noticing an increase in diet, and feels very thirsty. He/she might also say that the frequency of urination has increased in the past few days and often, there is an urgency to urinate at night. These are the warning signs that the patient is in a diabetic state.

To conclude, these were few of the signs that will be noticed in the diabetic patient by the physician. If taken into consideration by the patient, and appropriate treatment including goals to keep the blood sugar in control are implemented, a person can enjoy life for years even after being diagnosed with diabetes.