Problems Caused by Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease that affects how your body uses glucose. When you develop diabetes, your body can't properly use glucose. According to the Mayo Clinic, regardless of what type of diabetes you suffer from, too much glucose can be produced. As your glucose levels increase, or when the disease goes untreated, your body begins to suffer. As a result, you can develop serious health complications.

Short-Term Complications

• Short-term complications refer to medical conditions that can be immediate and result in diabetic coma. Such conditions include hyperglycemia, diabetic ketoacidosis, and hypolgycemia. Hyperglycemia is when your blood sugar levels rise too quickly. This can be due to eating too much or not taking your glucose lowering medications. Diabetic ketoacidosis is when your cells lack food for energy. As a result, your body will start eating away at your body fat. Your body then produces ketones, which are toxic acids. Hypoglycemia is the result of low blood sugar, which can occur due to skipped meals or not being active.

Bone/Joint Disorders

• According to the Mayo Clinic, when you develop diabetes, you are at a higher risk of developing disorders of your joints and bones, such as osteoporosis or osteoarthritis. Osteoporosis is a disease in which your bones develop weaknesses. As a result, you can develop fractures fairly easy. One joint disorder is osteoarthritis, which causes your joint cartilage to disintegrate, leading to arthritis of your joints.

Neuropathy

• Neuropathy is also known as nerve damage. If you have too much sugar in your blood, your capillaries can become injured. If sugar levels become uncontrolled, your capillaries can become permanently damaged over time. This can result in your limbs becoming affected. Limbs that are affected with neuropathy will lose all form of sensations and feeling.

Nephropathy

• Nephropathy is more commonly known as kidney damage, which is a common complication in diabetes. Within your kidneys are blood vessels that help to filter waste from your blood. When you develop diabetes, these blood vessels can become damaged. As a result, your filtering system within the kidneys can become compromised. According to the Mayo Clinic, massive damage to the kidneys may result in failure of your kidneys, or kidney disease.

Alzheimer's

• When you have type 2 diabetes (adult-onset diabetes), you're at an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. According to the Mayo Clinic, the risk increases if you allow your blood sugar levels to run rampant. It is also thought there is an Alzheimer's risk with diabetes due to a lack of insulin, which can cause deprivation of brain glucose to your brain cells. Cardiovascular issues associated with diabetes can cause strokes and block blood flow to your brain, which can also potentially lead to Alzheimer's.

Heart Complications

• Diabetes puts you at greater risk of developing cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attack and stroke. The Mayo Clinic states that "a risk of stroke doubles within the first five years of having been treated for type 2 diabetes." Other cardiovascular diseases can include angina (chest pain), coronary artery disease, atherosclerosis (narrowing of arteries) and high blood pressure.