Use body signals to alert for diabetes complications👴👵

Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder based on genetics and the environment, which can cause damage to capillaries, large blood vessels, eyes, feet, heart, brain and other organs. The patient will produce some corresponding symptoms due to persistent hyperglycemia. If doctors and patients can recognize these changes early and intervene in time. It can effectively delay the development of diabetes to a more severe degree.

1. Skin: Abnormal sweat secretion and pigmentation

Skin lesions can occur in the skin of the whole body and occurring in various periods of diabetes. It is manifested as hyperhidrosis on the trunk, less sweat on the limbs, dry skin and itching, cracked hands and feet, erythema on the anterior tibia of the calf, and gradually progressing to a circular pigmented area (anterior tibial spot).
Mechanism: Autonomic nerves can not regulate sweat glands normally. It result in abnormal sweat gland secretion. Coupled with long-term metabolic disorders, it causes neuropathy, microvascular disease, arteriosclerosis and skin infections, which in turn leads to skin lesions.

2. Eyes: pain and blurred vision

Diabetic retinopathy can cause blurred vision, decreased vision. Some patients may have color recognition disorders or eye pain.
Mechanism: Eye basement membrane thickened, capillary capillaries, and impaired blood retinal barrier function caused abnormal penetration. It would lead to retinal edema and the formation of new blood vessels over a period time.

3. Oral: periodontal abscess and periodontitis

Patients with poor blood sugar control lead to severe inflammation of the periodontal tissue, red and swollen gingival margins can be granulomatous hyperplasia, easy to bleed, periodontal pockets often have pus and periodontal abscesses. In severe cases, multiple periodontal abscesses and rapid destruction of alveolar bone can occur.
Mechanism: Diabetes and periodontitis affect each other. The high-sugar environment of diabetic patients will cause the microbes grow rapidly in the oral and causing a variety of oral diseases. The failure of effective control of oral diseases will further worsen the condition of diabetes.

4. Foot: infection and ulceration

Diabetic feet are manifested by infections of varying severity, ulcers, neurological disorders, damage or lesion of soft tissues and bones and joints of the foot. Severe cases may require amputation. The probability of foot ulceration or necrosis in diabetic patients is 20~30%.
Mechanism: Diabetic foot is caused by peripheral neuropathy, infection and vascular stenosis or occlusion.

5. Bone: bone pain and osteoporosis

Diabetes combined with osteoporosis will cause bone pains. Convulsions of the limbs may occur due to increased urinary calcium excretion. People with severe osteoporosis are prone to fractures. If there is a significant compression fracture of the spine, there will be a hunchback, height shorter and a reduction in the distance between the costal margin and the iliac ridge.
Mechanism: Poor blood sugar controlling caused increaseing urinary sugar excretion, a large loss of blood calcium with urine, inhibition of bone formation, bone transformation at a low level. The end products of glycosylation may increase bone fragility.

6. Joints: pain and limited mobility

It shows joint pain, swelling, tenderness, joint morning stiffness, rub of joint and limited joint movement.
Mechanism: Diabetes can cause joint neuropathy. It result in vascular nutritional dysfunction, hypoesthesia, bone destruction, articular cartilage damage and even fractures.

7. Lower limbs: pain and numbness

Diabetes more than 10 years are prone to obvious peripheral neuropathy. The clinical manifestations are pain, numbness, burning or needle sensation in the limbs. The symptoms are often bilaterally symmetrical and are more obvious at the ends of the hands and feet. Severe pain at the proximal end of one lower extremity is more common and it can be involved with both distal motor nerves at the same time. It accompanied by rapidly progressing muscle weakness and muscle atrophy.
Mechanism: The risk of occurrence is related to factors such as the level of blood sugar control and the course of diabetes. The occurrence of pathology involves multiple mechanisms such as oxidative stress, polyols and microcirculation disorders.

8. Gastrointestinal: hiccups, diarrhea and constipation

Patients will have stomach symptoms such as hiccups, dysphagia, stomach upset, full upper abdomen, constipation, diarrhea and bowel disorders.
Mechanism: Diabetic autonomic neuropathy can manifest in multiple systems of the human body and then appear corresponding symptoms.

9. Urine: special smell and foamy urine

There is an increase in foam in the urine which looks like beer foam. The urine appears a special smell, frequent and incomplete urination.
Mechanism: Foamy urine is due to increased urine albumin excretion. It results in increased urine tension and foam. The special smell in urine is due to the increased amount of ketones produced by the body under the influence of high blood sugar. It is always seen in diabetic ketosis or ketoacidosis.

10. Cardiovascular: syncope and orthostatic hypotension

It manifests as syncope, orthostatic hypotension, painless myocardial infarction, abnormal coronary systolic function, cardiac arrest or sudden death.
Mechanism: Diabetes is a cardiovascular complication caused by increased blood sugar and blood lipids. High blood pressure and lipid and calcium deposits in the coronary arteries of the heart. These make hardening and stenosis of the arteries.

11. Peripheral large blood vessels: cold skin and walking weakness

The pulsation of the dorsal artery of the foot disappeared, the skin of the lower extremities was cold and the walking fatigue disappeared after 2 to 3 minutes of rest. Then the calf pain during walking may appear which relieved after rest.
Mechanism: Diabetes leads to peripheral vascular disease which is stenosis and occlusion of blood vessels except coronary arteries and cerebral blood vessels. There are corresponding ischemic spasm or necrosis of distal tissues. It is mainly involving lower extremity arteries.

12. Sexual dysfunction

Men are manifested as retrograde ejaculation, erectile dysfunction, delayed ejaculation, premature ejaculation, non-ejaculation and so on. Women present with symptoms such as decreased vaginal lubrication, low libido, female orgasm disorders and dyspareunia.
Mechanism: In men, erectile and ejaculation disorders are caused by autonomic nervous diseases. Erectile disorders are caused by vascular diseases. In women, because women are in a state of chronic hyperglycemia, antioxidant defense effectiveness is reduced. It is leading to aggravation of the disease and various sexual dysfunctions.