Managing Diabetes Complications: Strategies for Prevention

Diverse Risks: Diabetes and its Complications

People with diabetes are more prone to develop a wide variety of serious health problems. Consistently high blood pressure levels lead to serious diseases that mainly affect the heart and blood vessels, eyes, kidneys, nerves, and teeth. In addition, people with diabetes may also have a higher chance of developing infections.

Nowadays, diabetes is a leading cause of cardiovascular diseases, blindness, kidney failure, and lower limb computation. So, by maintaining blood glucose levels, blood pressure, and cholesterol, diabetes complications can be prevented or delayed. Therefore, people with diabetes need regular monitoring.

Major complications of diabetes are as follows:

I. Cardiovascular diseases- They affect both the heart and blood vessels and usually cause fatal complications such as coronary artery disease and heart stroke. Cardiovascular is the most common disease that leads to death in people with diabetes. High blood pressure, high blood glucose levels, high cholesterol, and other risk factors lead to an increase in cardiovascular complications.

II. Kidney disease- It occurs by damaging the blood vessels in the kidneys, which leads to kidney failure. Kidney disease is very common in people with diabetes. So, maintaining normal levels of blood glucose and blood pressure can reduce the risk of kidney disease.

III. Nerve disease- When blood pressure and blood glucose levels are too high, diabetes causes damage to the nerves throughout the body. This leads to indigestion, erectile dysfunction, and other problems. The most commonly affected areas are the extremities, especially in the feet. Nerve damage in these areas is known as peripheral neuropathy, which causes pain, tingling, and loss of feeling. So, people with diabetes should regularly examine their feet.

IV. Eye disease- People with diabetes mostly develop eye diseases like a reduction in vision and blindness. It develops because of high blood pressure, high blood glucose levels, and high cholesterol. It can be managed by regularly checking the eyes and by not taking high levels of glucose and lipids.

V. Pregnancy complication- Women who develop diabetes during pregnancy have a high risk of complications if they don’t carefully monitor and manage their conditions. Women with type 1 and type 2 diabetes should achieve targeted glucose levels before conceiving to prevent possible organ damage to the fetus.

High blood glucose during pregnancy can lead to excess weight put on the fetus. This causes problems during delivery, trauma to the child and mother, and a sudden decrease in blood glucose for the infant after birth. Children who are exposed for a longer time to high blood glucose in the womb may develop diabetes in the future.

VI. Oral complication- If blood glucose is not properly managed by people having diabetes, then they may cause inflammation of the gums (periodontitis). Periodontitis is a major cause of tooth loss, and it also has a high risk of cardiovascular disease. Regular oral check-ups should be done to ensure early diagnosis.

References:

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