The thing about type 2 diabetes is that its symptoms are subtle and the disease itself is a slow process. This is the reason why it can't be easily detected.
And being unaware of the signs and symptoms doesn't make you immune to the issues associated with type 2 diabetes. It doesn't help that you go without managing the condition either, as this will only worsen the complications brought by the disease such as nerve damage, vision loss, kidney and cardiovascular disease, and amputation.
If you've been unwell lately, call your doctor and have your blood taken for a test. Also, watch out for these early signs of type 2 diabetes.
Tingling feet
High blood sugar levels can cause problems long before you are aware that you have diabetes. One is neuropathy, which can cause numbness in your feet. Although different forms of diabetic neuropathy may affect people with diabetes, research indicates that up to half of people with diabetes experience peripheral neuropathy, nerve damage that usually affects the legs and feet, and often affecting the arms and hands.
Your wounds heal more slowly
Early signs of diabetes could be slow healing. When your sugar levels are high, the immune system and the processes that help the body cure don't work well. There are several components in the immune system and almost all of them do not function in the setting of hyperglycemia or elevated blood glucose as well. For example, blood flow is reduced, blood acidity changes that harm the immune cells, and nerve damage that leads to injuries and infections.
Blurry vision
When blurred vision occurs at the time of diagnosis, it is not diabetic retinopathy which is associated with a defect to the blood vessels in the back of the eye. It's most often an indication that the lenses get fluid in or out of them because the glucose concentration in them is different from the rest of the body. Blurry vision can be a good sign since it can happen when blood sugars start to go down to healthier levels after therapy has begun.
Sudden weight loss
One risk factor for type 2 diabetes is being overweight, yet losing some pounds is one of the disease's early symptoms. Loss of weight is due to two things. One, it's because you shed weight from urinating too much. And second, you lose some calories in your urine, and you don't consume all the calories in your blood from the sugar.
