Diabetes is a chronic illness that has multiple types but is related to the body’s inability to process sugar in the bloodstream due to a patient’s inability to properly utilize or manufacture the chemical known as insulin. As far as type 1 diabetes, it is unknown what the cause is at this time, but type 2 diabetes has been linked to obesity. Some symptoms of diabetes are blurry vision, excess thirst, fatigue, frequent urination, hunger, and weight loss. Diabetes is a very serious disease because it can very easily lead to a number of other medical issues in the patient’s life including the failure of one’s kidneys and limb amputation.
Diabetes if left uncontrolled and untreated can severely damage the body. The high levels of sugar in one’s blood can damage their nerves. This nerve damage is most commonly associated with a patient’s feet and causes them to lose their sense of pain when it comes to the affected area. This means that whenever an injury occurs to the foot of someone afflicted with diabetes, they might not be able to tell that they have been injured since they cannot feel the pain. While the lack of feeling pain may sound like a bonus to some, they must also realize that pain tells us when we are hurt so that we can care for the affected body part instead of continuing to use it normally which would inhibit the body’s efforts to heal the affected area.
The nerve damage caused by diabetes also inhibits blood and oxygen flow to the feet which slow the healing process down substantially. If a person has diabetes and smokes, it is a good idea to cease smoking immediately because smoking decreases the blood flow to one’s feet. The effect of diabetes on the healing process makes it so that the tiniest cuts or punctures can turn into skin ulcers that continue to get wider and deeper, which in turn get infected more easily and then lead to a necessity for amputation of the affected limb. Even with all of these daunting symptoms caused by diabetes, with regular care from one’s physician and podiatrist and a bit of vigilance from the patient, one can easily lead a long healthy life with diabetes.
