I was told about all the problems my diabetes could cause, but nobody explained why.

Had someone explained these things to me, I might have tried harder to do what I had been told to do.

Complications from diabetes come on

over time, and damage has often

started before we realize something is

wrong.

The belief that "as long as I feel well I must be well" does not hold true for the complications of diabetes; they come on quietly.

Nerve Damage and Disease
Amputations and ulcers, especially in the feet, are more frequent in patients with poorly controlled diabetes.

Decreased circulation to feet and legs leads to damage and loss of nerve function.

The nerves lose their ability to sense pain, pressure, touch, or temperature correctly, which results in tingling and numbess of the feet and toes (fingers, too).

This condition is called peripheral neuropathy.

Autonomic neuropathy occurs when there is nerve damage affecting the automatic processes in your body such as heart rate or sweating, so they do not work as they should.

The stomach may not process food correctly.

The heart rate or blood pressure does not speed up or slow down in response to exercise, exertion, rest, standing, or sitting.

Autonomic neuropathy also contributes to the absence of chest pain with heart attack, and can cause sweating at inappropriate times or in specific areas, leaky bladder, pupils that do not constrict or dilate as needed, sexual dysfunction, & decreased ability to sense an infection or hypoglycemia.

If you already have numbness in your feet, is there any point to controlling blood sugars?

Absolutely. Numbness and burning in the feet are signs that nerves have been damaged.

Evidence has shown that nerves, when only damaged, can learn to trasmit messages through different pathways.

If your feet are so completely numb that you cannot tell where they are because you cannot feel them, managing your blood sugars most likely will not get any sensation back.

But it can prevent the numbness and nerve damage from spreading farther up your leg.

And controlling your blood sugars will give your damanged nerves and your immune system a fighting chance to help your feet stay healthy.

Vision Problems
Retinopathy, macular edema, glaucoma, and cataracts are the more common eye disorders related to diabetes.

Eye disease is typically progressive, and there are usually no symptoms until damage has occurred.

You may have 20/20 vision yet one day have complete vision loss due to a hemorrhage.

This is the reason a yearly eye exam is so important.

An eye doctor will be able to see the changes occurring before vision is at risk.

Laser surgery can destroy the abnormal vessels in the eye and prevent their regrowth.

So What's The Good News?
Believe it or not, there is some good news.

The whole process of long-term complications started with sticky red blood cells.

The good news is that red blood cells

 only live two to three months.

That means that in three months of

keeping your blood sugar levels

 nearer to normal, you have a whole

 new set of unsticky red blood cells.

This turnover eliminates the cops, slow cars, and semi-trucks from the freeway, and prevents further damage to the road.

When blood sugar levels come down, the stickiness decreases on the walls of the arteries and veins, and triglycerides and cholesterol levels are reduced.

So where lanes of traffic were closed, we now have open roads.

Where damage has been done, we may not be able to repair it, but with improved control, we can prevent further complications and slow or stop the progress of any existing ones.

Keeping blood sugars close to normal

 is the best way to prevent

complications.

Unlike genetics, age, or sex, it is the one component we have some control over.

Excerpt from:

Mastering Your Diabetes

(Before Diabetes Masters You) Author: Janette Kirkham, RN, CDE, EMT for the American Diabetes Association