Long Term Complications of Type 2 Diabetes
Hello! If you are new here, you may want to subscribe to RSS feed. Do leave a comment, and Follow me onTwitter. Thanks for visiting!
People who suffers from Type 2 diabetes may most likely develop several long term health problems if not taken cared of.
You are at risk of two main sets of complication—those that affect your heart and circulation and those that affect your eyes, feet, kidneys, and nerves.
You can do your part a lot to put down the risk of developing long term complications by living healthy lifestyle and working with your doctor to ensure routine medical check ups are done.
Complications take at least 5-10 years to develop although this can be misleading because you can have the signs of them when you are first diagnosed. This is because you may have Type 2 diabetes all along for years before your diagnosis.
Type 2 diabetes is strongly linked to high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol. These further increase your risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) and heart attack.
High blood glucose level over a period of years can damage your kidneys medically known as nephropathy. If left untreated, this damage can eventually reduce your kidneys’ efficiency. Take regular urine test at least twice in a year to check for early signs of kidney damage.
Diabetes can affect your eyesight. Blurry vision may be linked with high blood glucose levels. But this is temporary, once blood glucose levels reduce, your eyesight will return to normal. In longer term, one of the complications related to eyes is called retinopathy in which small blood vessels at the back of your eyes are damaged. If retinopathy is diagnosed at an early stage, is can be treated successfully. But if left untreated your eyesight will be greatly affected–eventually your sight may become limited or even lost. Have your eyes checked once a year to know the progess of retinopathy.
Over long period of high blood glucose levels may lead to poor circulation and nerve damage resulting to reduced sensation in your feet. This will make you prone to ulcers on your feet or legs or damage to the bonesof of your feet.
Another long term complication that occurs to man, erectile dysfunction. Over time you may find it more difficult to get an erection because of damage to your nerves or circulation.
What can I do to prevent myself from getting these aforementioned long term complications of diabetes?
2 things that will possibly reduce your risk of complications– control your blood glucose level and blood pressure as well. Eating healthily, being physically active, losing weight if you need to, stopping smoking, and taking prescribed tablets and medicines (i.e. insulin) will all help. One important measure also is by undergoing annual physical check up with the doctor and keeping your knowledge of diabetes up to date. To minimize foot problems, check your feet daily, and seek medical attention if you notice any injuries and abnormalities.
To summarize the complications of diabetes, there are of two major types:
A. Short Term Complications:
- Diabetic Ketoacidosis
- Hyperosmolar non ketotic coma
- Hypoglycaemia
B. Long Term Complications:
- Arterio Sclerosis
- Diabetic nephropathy
- Diabetic retinopathy
- Diabetic microangiopathy
- Diabetic neuropathy
- Infections
- Heart Disease and Stroke
Details of all these complications will be discussed in upcoming posts.
Similar Posts:
You might also like
 |
 |
 |
Comments (1)
[...] activity should I do to feel the benefits? How does being more active help prevent the onset of long term complications of diabetes? These are just among of the frequently asked questions regarding physical activity that I will try [...]