Diabetes Complications, The Silent Killer.

The complications from diabetes can have devastating effects on your health, if proper care of ones health is not maintained.

Heart Disease

Diabetes is well known for being the cause of heart related
problems. Large amounts of sugar in the blood can cause a
significant amount of damage to a body’s systems- especially
blood vessels.

Unhealthy lifestyles coupled with diabetes can up the chances
of complications and lead to other health problems such as
coronary heart disease and stroke.

Middle aged persons with Type 2 diabetes have been shown to
have as much chance of having a heart attack as the person who
does not have diabetes at all but has had at least one heart
attack. Hardening of the arteries, or atherosclerosis, is
always a prescription for a possible heart attack.

Take a diabetic with high cholesterol and the risk becomes that
much greater. Even further, diabetics who have had one heart
attack are very much at risk for another.

Women with diabetes are much more likely to develop some sort
of heart disease than women without the disease.

Warning signs of a heart attack are:

- Chest pain spreading to shoulders, neck or arms.
- Chest pressure, tightness, burning or a heavy feeling in the
chest.
- Irregular heart rate
- Impending doom feeling.
- Lightheadedness.
- Fainting, nausea, sweating or shortness of breath.
-Sweaty skin.
- Paleness
- Anxiety or nervousness

Stroke

The brain is very much dependent on oxygen to keep it alive.
The brain needs a network of blood vessels in which to pump
oxygen rich blood. Through this network of vessels will the
vital parts of the brain been feed. Without that the brain
tissues will die.

Diabetics are three times more likely to have a stroke than
those who does not have the disease. As diabetes is more common
in the African American community, this accounts for the reason
that they suffer a sizeable amount of the population’s strokes
every year.

Ischemic stroke is characterized by an insufficient flow of
blood and oxygen to the brain tissues and is the most prevalent
type of stroke for those with diabetes. The risk for this type
of stroke is peaking for younger men and older women.

A stroke is an emergency situation that requires immediate
medical intervention and warrants a trip to the emergency room
of a hospital. The sooner the stroke victim receives medical
care, the sooner any damage can be assessed and the condition
stabilized.

Warning signs of stroke include the following:

•Numbness or weakness in a person’s face, arm or leg-
especially on one side of the body
•Sudden nausea, fever or vomiting
•Inability to speak or understand words and/or simple sentences

•Blurred vision in one or both eyes
•The inability to swallow
•Dizziness.
•A sudden imbalance or lack of coordination
•Loss of consciousness
•The inability to move part of the body, i.e. paralysis
•Unexplainable, intense headache

Vascular Problems of the Legs

Diabetes can also cause poor circulation to the legs and feet.
Vascular disease is very much a concern with diabetics. These
circulatory problems can cause blood to pool in the lower parts
of the body and is called peripheral vascular disease.

Arteriosclerosis is also a concern because it causes the blood
vessels to narrow, reducing the flow of healthy oxygen rich
blood to muscles in the legs.

Claudication is the name for pain that results from a lack of
good blood supply to calf muscles.

Leg and foot problems often land diabetics in the hospital and
are the leading cause for amputations in these regions. Poor
circulation makes it hard to fight infection. This is why
regular check ups from doctors, and properly managing diabetes
is so incredibly important.

About The Author: This content is provided by Dr Pieter de Wet
a general practitioner and in practice for 20 years. It may be
used only in its entirety with all links included. Get your
diabetes, diabetes symptoms and diabetes treatment advice at
http://www.thediabetesdoc.com

These articles are my gifts to you as a fellow sufferer of diabetes. It is the hope of this blogger that I save a life or at least give you solid warnings and the reality of this potentially devastating disease.

Til Next Time!

John V
John C. Vincent/CEO/The Opt.In Magic System
http://The-Way-To-Weight-Loss-blog.blogspot.com
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