Signs of Adult Onset Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is the most common, and it usually comes on after after age 40. The cause is either insufficient or faulty insulin, the hormone that helps convert glucose in the blood into the energy your body needs to function. The earliest symptoms are harder to recognize, and it is later ones that often send people to their doctors.

Increased Thirst and Urination

• Excess glucose in the blood pulls fluid from tissues, leaving people thirstier than usual. When they drink heavily in response, urination is more frequent.

Increased Appetite

• If you do not produce enough glucose to move sugar to your cells, your poorly nourished muscles and organs will not provide the energy you need. As a result, you will feel ravenous and eat more, hoping that more food will solve the problem--but it won't.

Fatigue

• Another consequence of decreased sugar going to your cells is weariness and irritability.

Weight Loss

• Even though you may eat more because you are hungrier, you still can't use the glucose you produce. As a result, your body looks for alternative fuel in your muscles and fat, and you start losing weight even though you are eating too much.

Darkened Skin

• Around the armpits and necks, people may have areas of darkened skin. This may be a sign of resistance to insulin.

Blurred Vision

• High blood sugar levels may draw fluid from the lenses of your eyes and reduce your ability to focus. This is the first of the symptoms telling you that your Type 2 diabetes is worsening.

Frequent or Slow-Healing Infections or Sores

• Type 2 diabetes affects the healing process by reducing the bodies' ability to fight infection. The result may be yeast infections in skin folds or wounds and sores that don't heal.