Medical News – Simplifying health information. – 20 Signs of High Blood Sugar
High blood sugar levels (or hyperglycemia) are a symptom of diabetes mellitus. They are also a precursor to this disease, which can be life-limiting. When you…
1. Fatigue
Extreme fatigue can be a symptom of high blood sugar levels. When you have too much glucose (sugar) in your blood, you will feel tired. Blood that contains a lot of sugar moves more slowly than blood with normal sugar levels. The circulation of blood around the body slows down. When this happens, organs and cells are not getting the oxygen that they need from the blood. This is what causes them long-term harm if high blood sugar levels are not treated.
2. Blurred vision
If you experience an onset of blurred vision, it could be because you have high blood sugar levels. High blood sugar levels that do not decrease cause the eye’s lens to swell up. This change to the lens affects your ability to see. Left untreated, the permanent swelling of the lens can do permanent damage and affect your eyesight. Diabetic retinopathy describes the eye conditions caused by diabetes. The two most common are macular edema and proliferative retinopathy.
3. Headaches
Headaches are common among people with high blood sugar. They are not described as a migraine or severe in nature. They take several days to develop and can last for a while. This is one of the earliest signs that something is wrong with your blood sugar levels. It’s not the sugar that causes a headache as such. It’s the changes in the sugar levels that does it. As the condition worsens and no treatment is used to intervene, the headache will become worse. It is thought that rising sugar levels affect the levels of hormones in the body. The hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine will fluctuate. This has the potential to bring about the onset of a headache.
4. More frequent trips to the bathroom
You may need to urinate more often than usual. This is a common sign of high blood sugar levels. Because your body doesn’t process the sugar in the blood, it builds up and finds its way to your kidneys. There, your kidneys work under pressure to filter and then absorb this excess sugar. Your kidneys will in all likelihood not be able to keep up the pace. Then the excess sugar gets into your urine. As it goes into the urine, it takes with it other fluids. This results in the bladder being filled with more fluid than usual, prompting your need for more bathroom breaks. This symptom of high blood sugar levels is called polyuria.
5. Insatiable thirst
Excessive thirst is called polydipsia. It is also an indicator that your blood sugar levels may be too high. As a result of polydipsia, people experience polyuria, as the water they drink must be expelled from the body. Once the urine has been expelled from the body, it must protect itself from dehydration. So, you will feel the need to drink fluids. The more trips you take to the bathroom, the more fluids you’ll want to drink.
6. Increased appetite
This is a recognized indicator of high blood sugar levels. Excessive hunger or increased appetite is called polyphagia. It’s been described as ‘starving in the land of plenty.’ No matter how much you eat or how frequently you eat, you never feel full. How can it be possible? Polyphagia is not unique to people with high blood sugar levels. It can also occur in people with eating disorders, stress, depression, anxiety, or hyperthyroidism (overactive thyroid gland).
7. Your mouth feels dry all the time
The medical term for ‘dry mouth’ is xerostomia. It is a common sign of high blood sugar levels and diabetes. It is advisable to seek medical advice if you have dry mouth and suspect that you may have diabetes. Dry mouth is caused by a shortage of saliva in the mouth. The symptomatic characteristics of dry mouth are cracked or chapped lips, rough or dry tongue, mouth sores, gum or tooth cavity infections. Dry mouth makes talking, chewing, and swallowing difficult because saliva is needed for these functions.
8. You may feel short of breath
Shortness of breath is related to very high blood sugar levels. It is a sign that your blood sugar levels have been at a high level for quite some time already. If you do not treat your high blood sugar levels, you can experience ketoacidosis. This is commonly known as a diabetic coma. It is caused by a lack of insulin in the body. This lack of insulin is an indicator that your pancreas is no longer producing insulin. This is the cause of diabetes. The lack of insulin makes it impossible for your body to absorb the glucose and convert it to energy.
9. You may find it difficult to concentrate and remember things
Memory loss, confusion, and difficulty concentrating can be related to several conditions. These include depression, stress, alcohol abuse, Alzheimer’s disease, side effects of medications, or an underactive thyroid gland. However, they are also associated with high blood sugar levels that have been untreated for some time.
10. You may have abdominal pain or gastrointestinal issues
Conditions that affect the gastrointestinal (GI) system are common in people with high blood sugar levels or diabetes. The length of time the blood sugar levels are raised and how high they are can take a toll on your GI tract.
11. Slow healing of cuts and wounds
Cuts and wounds that don’t heal are signs that something is wrong with your health. The body’s self-healing processes are an indicator of your overall health. Within minutes of sustaining a cut or wound, the body acts immediately to begin healing it. When your body doesn’t respond this way, you need to establish the underlying cause. It could be a suppressed immune system, chronic blood circulation condition, or iron-deficiency anemia.
12. You may have recurrent infections
The immune system is vital for the body’s defense against bacteria, viruses, cancer cells, and parasites the body encounters. If the immune system is deficient, it affects the body’s ability to fight off infections. A compromised immune system is a sign of several disorders.
13. Your skin may be drier than usual and itchy
Itching is a common diabetes symptom, and diabetes is associated with high blood sugar levels. People with diabetes are more likely to experience itching skin than those who don’t have it. If you have high blood sugar levels or suspect you might, do not ignore your itchy skin. Left untreated, high blood sugar levels are dangerous, and the damage done to your skin from the itching could be serious.
14. You may experience numbness or pain in your extremities
Poor circulation affects your hands and fingers more than any other body parts. When you have too much sugar in your blood, it thickens and moves more slowly. That, coupled with the damage that high blood sugar levels cause to the blood vessels, compromises your circulatory system. Blood vessels narrow from the inflammation which makes it even harder for the thickened blood to move.
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15. You may experience impotence or infertility
Men with high blood sugar levels often experience erectile dysfunction. This is a very sensitive subject, which most men won’t broach. But if you have developed this problem, you need to see your doctor for advice. High blood sugar levels thicken the blood and damage the blood vessels. This can affect the blood supply to the penis and affect the ability to obtain and sustain an erection. This can be frustrating for the man and his partner. It can lead to depression and other mood disorders.
16. Fruity-smelling breath
If you notice your breath has a fruity smell, it’s a possible pre-cursor to diabetes and indicates that your blood sugar is dangerously high. There are two blood sugar-related causes of a fruity smelling breath.
17. High fever
A high fever is an indication that something is wrong in the body. One of the things that it could indicate is high blood sugar. Or, if you have high blood sugar, a fever can exacerbate it.
18. Stroke
There is a causal relationship between high blood sugar levels and stroke. People with high blood sugar conditions such as diabetes and pre-diabetes are 2-4 times more likely to suffer a stroke. High blood sugar levels indicate that the body is unable to metabolize or break these sugars down. A hormone called insulin allows glucose to enter the cells. Insulin comes from the pancreas. When there is a problem with insulin production, it leads to problems with blood sugar levels. The glucose cannot enter the cells and give them energy. Instead, it remains in the blood.
19. Heart disease
High blood sugar levels can cause heart disease. If you start to experience the symptoms of heart disease, the chances of your blood sugar levels being elevated are high. Different symptoms tell you there’s something wrong with your heart. One of them is pain and discomfort in the chest. It means the heart is having problems with blood supply. Other symptoms of heart disease include nausea, stomach aches, heartburn, and indigestion.
20. High blood pressure
Elevated blood sugar levels can lead to elevated blood pressure levels (hypertension). High blood pressure is caused by the irregular contraction of the blood vessels which damages them over time. When your blood sugar is too high, it changes the way your blood vessels behave. It makes them contract more than they should. This narrowing of the blood vessels causes the blood pressure to rise. The heightened pressure on the walls of the blood vessels can cause them permanent damage.
Source – https://medical-news.org/
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