Wondering how to tell if you have diabetes? Learn how to recognize early diabetes symptoms in women
Could you be suffering from diabetes and not even know it? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 13.4 million women in the United States suffer from diabetes, and more than a quarter of them are completely unaware that they have it. There are three types of diabetes: Type 1, which typically appears before the age of 20; Type 2, which is triggered by certain risk factors such as diet, activity, and weight; and gestational diabetes, which affects pregnant women. During their lifetime, women are at risk of developing any of these three types of diabetes. Learning how to recognize early diabetes symptoms in women may help you or a loved one prevent or even reverse some of the long-term complications that can occur when diabetes is left untreated.
Early Symptoms of Diabetes
The early symptoms of Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes can be subtle and rather difficult to spot, unless you know exactly what to look for. There are a number of warning signs that let you know that you are developing diabetes, including:
- You have to urinate frequently and you are extremely thirsty
When you have diabetes, your body doesn’t make enough insulin. This allows glucose to build up in your bloodstream. Your body then excretes the extra glucose into your kidneys, causing you to urinate frequently (polyuria). The extra urination can leave you dehydrated, so you may become extremely thirsty (known as polydipsia) and begin drinking excessive amounts of water.
- You begin to experience blurry vision
When you don´t have enough insulin in your system, high blood sugar levels can cause the lens in your eye to swell, which affects your ability to focus. This can occur in one eye or both, and generally subsides when glucose levels stabilize. If your diabetes is left untreated, new blood vessels can form in the back of your eye and damage existing ones, eventually causing vision loss and blindness. - You suddenly start losing weight
If your body doesn´t have enough insulin, it can´t use the glucose from food to fuel your cells. Your body in essence begins to starve, even though you are eating. You may become very hungry and begin to lose weight rapidly. - You begin to develop frequent yeast infections
If you suddenly begin to develop oral or vaginal yeast infections and you don´t have a history of them, it may be a sign that you are developing type 1 or type 2 diabetes. The buildup of glucose can create an overgrowth of yeast that causes itching, a thick discharge, and occasionally a rash.
Gestational Diabetes Symptoms
An estimated 9.2 percent of women, who have never had diabetes before, develop high blood glucose levels when they are pregnant. This condition, known as gestational diabetes, typically disappears once the mother gives birth. This form of diabetes is hard to identify without a blood glucose test because most women have no detectable gestational diabetes symptoms. The best way to protect you and your baby from this disease is through regular blood glucose checks once you reach 24 weeks into your pregnancy.
If you detect any of the early diabetes symptoms in women, you should make an appointment with your physician immediately. Women who catch Type 2 diabetes early enough are sometimes able to manage their condition exclusively through changes to their diet and lifestyle, without having to use insulin to control their blood sugar. Visit www.BetterHealthKare.com for helpful tips on managing diabetes naturally, delicious diabetic-friendly recipes, and other useful advice on living with diabetes.