A diabetic person cannot make normal use of sugar, and so sugar builds up in the blood. The kidneys discharge some of the excess sugar in the urine. In severe cases of diabetes, fats and proteins cannot also be used normally.

The type 1 diabetes strikes some people so suddenly that the lack of insulin causes an emergency condition called diabetic ketoacidosis. There is excess urination, thirst, loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting and difficulty in breathing. If the patient is not treated promptly, he may go into diabetic coma with fatal results.

In type 2 diabetes, the patient has normal or even above normal production of insulin. But their bodies do not respond efficiently to the insulin. Symptoms of type 2 diabetes are excessive urination, great thirst, hunger and loss of weight and strength.

Complications of Diabetes

It is very important to take care of diabetes as improper care can give rise to several complications. If the blood sugar level is kept under control, one can prevent many health problems. Many people come to know of their diabetes only when they develop one of its complications.

1. The structural and functional abnormalities of diabetic complications are the glycation of structural proteins and the production of advanced glycation end products with their deposition in various tissues.
2. Most patients with type 2 diabetes also tends to be obese and hypertensive.
3. Angina is a long term complication of diabetes.
4. Difficulty in walking with chronic ulceration of feet due to diabetic neuropathy and also diabetic microangiopathy and diabetic nephropathy due to small blood vessel disease.
5. Diabetic patients are at higher risk of developing atheroscelerosis.
6. Wound healing is delayed in diabetics because of neuropathy, and hyperglycaemia.
7. Intermittent claudication and gangrene due to atherosclerosis
8. Blindness due to diabetic retinopathy
9. Diabetes affects the blood vessels, the blood and the heart.
10. Cardiac failure is also another long term complication of diabetes.

I hope this article has covered some of the long term complications of diabetes. Knowing these complications will help you to prevent them.

Control your blood glucose level for more controlled life!

Disclaimer: This article is not meant to provide health advice and is for general information only. Always seek the insights of a qualified health professional before embarking on any health program.

Copyright © Nick Mutt, All Rights Reserved. If you want to use this article on your website or in your ezine, make all the urls (links) active.

Are you looking for some Home remedies for cellulite? Know effective Home remedies for weight loss. Read useful Home remedies for erectile dysfunction for more intimate relationship.

Nick Mutt
http://www.articlesbase.com/diseases-and-conditions-articles/long-term-complications-of-diabetes-670039.html

Up above, the crashing of the wave tosses wild currents around the coral. A small damselfish swimming through the reef is tossed against the reef and nicks itself on the sharp coral. Three shiny scales scrape away and drift motionless, until the current starts to spin them about. A tiny drop of blood slowly seeps out into the ocean. Startled, the little damsel scurries away, out into the open ocean.

A mile away, a languishing bluetip reef shark senses an odor. The tiny droplet of blood, spread thin in the ocean, awakens the sharks hunger. He can smell the blood and weaves his way though the sea, continually tracking back and forth, to a stronger and stronger scent trail. The little damselfish, still barely bleeding, but leaving a trail to follow, is the end of the path for the shark. Jagged teeth, open wide, the damsel hasn’t a chance.

The story of the shark in the damsel provides a perfect analogy for the way your body fights bacteria when you develop a diabetic foot infection. The bacteria is much like the little damselfish. As it moves through the tissue in your foot, it leaves chemical markers that signal its presence.

The sharks are much like the white blood cells (known as macrophages) that track down the bacteria through a process known as chemotaxis. Once the macrophages locate the bacteria, thee actually surround the bacteria with the cell wall, effectively eating them. The way that they eat the bacteria in this way is known as phagocytosis. Unfortunately diabetes and the high levels of blood sugar that are associated with diabetes, can have a profound effect on both chemotaxis and phagocytosis.

When the serum blood glucose is high, the macrophages are not able to follow the scent that leads to the bacteria. In a way, the white blood cells are then much like a hungry blind shark, who cannot see or smell, drifting through the vast open ocean just hoping to bump into a damselfish.

To complicate matters further, the process of phagocytosis is also disabled when the blood sugar is elevated. So even if the blind, senseless shark does bump into a damselfish, is almost as if his mouth is wired shut. Even when the shark can find a damselfish, it still cannot eat it.

This is the reason that a diabetic foot infection is an emergency that quickly becomes limb or life-threatening. In less than 24 hours, a minor infection can kill a diabetic. In almost every amputation that is performed on diabetics, it is likely that earlier intervention could have prevented the extent of limb loss.

For this reason it is critical for a diabetic to check the feet every day. Otherwise, a minor blister, open sore or ingrown toenail can start with a small infection and quickly get much worse. As the bacteria divide, the sharks can do nothing to stop them.

In a normal healthy adult, an ingrown toenail can remain infected for days before the infection worsens. In a diabetic, this is simply not true. A diabetic with elevated blood sugar has an impaired immune system. The disabled immune system is incapable of controlling the growth of the bacteria and serious complications develop.

Every 30 seconds a limb, somewhere is amputated because of diabetes. Diabetes also accounts for more than half of all of the amputations that are performed. This problem is actually getting worse and not better. The rate of diagnosis of diabetes is continuing to skyrocket. It is also predicted that the prevalence of diabetes will continue to climb as the baby boomers age.

Given the current circumstances of Medicare and other insurance carriers not providing insurance coverage for preventative care such as aggressive monitoring and education of diabetic foot problems, the number of amputations will also continue to rise. Unfortunately this is all preventable, but it is not being usually prevented.

It has been well documented that performing daily foot checks, seeking early treatment for a diabetic foot problem, and maintaing low blood sugar can all help to avert the problems in diabetes that culminate in amputation. However the current trend is that insurance companies will only pay for care associated with the complications such as the diabetic foot infections, hospitalizations and diabetic amputations.

Because of the way these episodes unfold, this leaves many patients with no leg to left to stand on.

You must have a diabetic foot check every year. If you also have neuropathy or diabetic nerve damage, it is important to be seen more often. You must check your feet every day. You should also wear white diabetic socks so that you can detect any drainage in the event that you do get a sore on your feet, you cannot see. All of these minor interventions have shown to significantly reduce the rates of complications to the feet from diabetes.

Dr Christopher Segler
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/what-do-sharks-and-diabetic-foot-infections-have-in-common-718567.html

Diabetes has been treated with plant medicines for centuries. Recent scientific investigation has confirmed the effectiveness of many of these preparations, some of which are remarkably effective. Only those herbs and plants that appear most effective are relatively non-toxic and have substantial documentation of value are listed in this article.

Your diabetes natural treatments list.

Gymnema Sylvestre

Gymnema assists the pancreas in the production of insulin in Type 2 diabetes. Making this herb an effective diabetes natural treatment. Gymnema also improves the ability of insulin to lower blood sugar in both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. It decreases cravings for sweet. This herb can be an excellent substitute for oral blood sugar-lowering drugs in Type 2 diabetes. Some people take 500 mg per day of gymnema extract.

Fenugreek – This herb has a certain ring to it’s name.

It’s the fenugreek seeds that make the difference when it comes to using this herb as a diabetes natural treatment. The defatted sections of the seed that contain the alkaloid trogonelline, nicotinic acid and coumarin is what makes this an effective diabetes natural treatment.

Frick and Frack – Onion and Garlic

Onion and garlic have significant blood sugar lowering action. The principal active ingredients are believed to be allyl propyl disulphide (APDS) and diallyl disulphide oxide (allicin), although other constituents such as flavonoids may play a role as well.

Experimental and clinical evidence suggests that APDS lowers glucose levels by competing with insulin for insulin-inactivating sites in the liver. This results in an increase of free insulin. APDS administered in doses of 125 mg/ kg to fasting humans was found to cause a marked fall in blood glucose levels and an increase in serum insulin. Allicin doses of 100 mg/kg produced a similar effect.

Pterocarpus Marsupium – That’s easy for you to say.

The tree is the source of the Kino of the European pharmacopeas. The gum-resin looks like dried blood (Dragon’s blood), much used in Indian medicine. This herb has a long history of use in India as a natural treatment for diabetes. The flavonoid, (-)-epicatechin, extracted from the bark of this plant has been shown to prevent alloxan-induced beta cell damage in rats. Both epicatechin and a crude alcohol extract of Pterocarpus marsupium have actually been shown to regenerate functional pancreatic beta cells. No other drug or natural agent has proven to generate this action. That is what separates this herb from most of the other diabetes natural treatments.

Blueberry leaves

Blueberry anthocyanosides increases capillary reliability, inhibits free-radical damage and enhances the quality of the vascular system. In Europe, it is used as an anti-haemorrhagic agent in the handling of eye diseases including diabetic retinopathy. I heard for a long time how good blueberries are. As a diabetes natural treatment this herb makes all the sense in the world to me.

Asian ginseng

In traditional Chinese medicine Asian ginseng is regularly used as a natural diabetes treatment. The evidence has been that it enhances the release of insulin from the pancreas and also increases the number of insulin receptors. A current analysis showed that 200 mg of ginseng extract per day improved on blood sugar control as well as energy levels in Type 2 diabetes (NIDDM).

Bilberry

Bilberry may lower the risk of some diabetic complications, such as diabetic cataracts and retinopathy.

Cinnamon – Triples insulin’s efficiency

Ginkgo Biloba

Ginkgo biloba extract may prove useful for prevention and treatment of early-stage diabetic neuropathy.

The benefits of using diabetes natural treatments compared to ingesting drugs are many. They are safer, and get to the problem without the side effects that quite often accompany medications. You may have to experiment with these alternative remedies to find the one that is best for you. Is that a responsible way to better health? I think so.

You have been given a list of at least seven diabetes natural treatments. Use them well. I was able to reduce blood sugar levels in my body using fenugreek and gymnema sylvestre. I wish you luck with your choice.

Aron Wallad
http://www.articlesbase.com/meditation-articles/your-7-diabetic-natural-treatments-exposed-102619.html