Can You Prevent Type 2 Diabetes? Follow These 5 Simple Steps

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is one of the most common diseases in Malaysian society. Diabetes is typically associated with the elderly, but young people today are not spared. This is because Malaysia has the highest obesity prevalence in Asia.

According to the 2019 National Health and Morbidity Survey, the report showed that among 50.1 percent of our adult population, about 30.4 percent of them are overweight, and about 19.7 percent of them are obese. These statistics reflect on the effect of our lifestyle, food culture and eating habits.

Obesity is a major risk factor causing diabetes mellitus, thus we must take some measures to improve such conditions and Malaysians health status.

What Are The Early Signs of Diabetes Mellitus?

Diabetes is an illness that affects the metabolism of sugar in our blood, which is also known as glucose. It generally develops when the pancreatic B cells produce insufficient amounts of insulin, and/or when body cells develop resistance or insensitivity towards insulin, resulting in inadequate insulin function. However, similar to many other diseases, Diabetes mellitus also has distinct signs and symptoms at each stage.

Therefore, having the ability to identify the early signs and symptoms of diabetes is crucial since it may help us to diagnose the disease at an early stage, allowing us to avoid complications that may develop at a later stage.

The early signs of diabetes mellitus includes:

• Polyuria, Increase Urination Frequency

One of the initial signs of diabetes is increased urination frequency. This occurs when the human body is unable to effectively absorb and utilise the excess blood glucose, which is the simple sugar in the blood. As a result, the kidneys need to filter and excrete the excess unutilized glucose into the urine, causing symptoms of frequent urination, polyuria.

• Polydipsia, Increase Thirst

Increased sense of thirst and consuming more water than usual are other early signs of diabetes in the early stage. This is because of the fact that polyuria will cause a decrease in body fluid, which ultimately triggers the sense of thirst. In addition, high blood glucose levels will also reduce satiety after drinking water, further triggering the sense of thirst.

• Polyphagia, Increase Hunger

The human body's cells need glucose as a source of energy to function normally and stay healthy. Diabetes mellitus, on the other hand, has body cells that are no longer able to absorb blood glucose at a regular quantity, prompting our bodies to send signals to thrive for more sources of energy. Diabetes also decreases satiety after eating and hence increases hunger, causing the individual to eat more frequently, polyphagia.

• Reduced Body Weight

Diabetics might lose weight unintentionally, despite the fact that they are frequently hungry. As previously stated, excess blood glucose levels impair the capacity of the body's cells to absorb and utilize glucose and nutrients as usual.

Furthermore, the tissue linings of blood vessels will be damaged if blood glucose levels are not well controlled, leading to diminishing normal blood flow, poor delivery and decreased saturation of oxygen and nutrients in the blood. Hence, the cells' growth and healing are slowed and delayed as a result, especially over the peripheries.

• Weakness And Lethargy

Some individuals will experience lethargy and weakness in the early stages of diabetes. This is because their body's cells are unable to absorb and use the glucose in their bloodstream normally, causing the energy to decrease in the body, resulting in weakness and fatigue.

Signs of Diabetes At Later Stage

• Slow Healing Wounds or Diabetics Wounds

Slow-healing wounds is also a sign or symptom of diabetes, however, diabetic wounds are more prevalent in the case of chronic uncontrolled diabetics. The rationale is similar to the cause of weight loss as mentioned above, in which high blood sugar levels induce a lack of nutrient absorption and impede the growth and repair of body cells.

• Dark And Dry Skin

Skin changes are more common around the neck, armpits and groin area. Such skin changes, becoming darker and dry is due to the excess insulin in the blood over the affected region, causing the surrounding skin to become thicker and less hydrated. Nonetheless, these insulin are unable to function and reduce excess blood glucose levels.

• Tingling And Numbness

Tingling and numbness can show that your nerves are getting weaker or damaged on the outer parts of your body. This often occurs in people with diabetes. It usually occurs in diabetics with uncontrolled sugar levels and/or chronic cases. These tingling and numbness sensations are usually felt over the fingertips, toes, soles of the feet and palms. If the blood glucose levels are still not controlled, these tingling and numbness will progressively spread towards the trunk of the body.

• Vision Disturbances, Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetic retinopathy is a condition where vision becomes blurry and the inability to focus as a result of high blood sugar levels, damaging the tiny blood vessels in the eyes and the optic nerve. This is also the outcome of uncontrolled diabetes mellitus. According to the studies about diabetic retinopathy, it showed that the risk of developing such vision problems increases by 30 percent every 10 years of diabetes mellitus.

• Susceptibility To Infections

Diabetics are more prone to infections, especially skin infections. This is because excess blood glucose levels may affect the normal immune system causing decreased body’s immunity and inability to defend against infections such as bacterial, fungus, viruses and others. These infections require specific treatments like antibiotics, antiviral, antifungal or so, as soon as possible to avoid complications from infections.

Importance Of Identifying The Early Signs Of Diabetes Mellitus

Acquiring the ability to recognize and identify the above signs and symptoms gives us the advantage for early detection, in which a proper treatment plan can be received as early as possible. In combination with adopting a healthy lifestyle, blood sugar levels usually can be controlled to the optimum level and hence prevent complications of diabetes.

Examples of complications of diabetes include blood vessel disorders in the brain, eyes, heart, kidneys, and legs. Furthermore, diabetics are also very susceptible to bacterial infections in the lungs, teeth, gums, urinary tract and so on.

Remember, prevention is better than cure, our society will hopefully be more attentive and take action by adopting a healthy lifestyle, learning to identify the early signs and symptoms of diabetes mellitus. With these measures, surely it can lower the risk of diabetes mellitus, reduce the cases and be beneficial in avoiding life-threatening complications.