What Are The Ill-Effects Of High Blood Sugar And The Problems Associated With It?

The medical terminology for high blood sugar is hyperglycemia, a condition that develops when the blood sugar levels shoot up due to one of the many causes like excessive stress, even a minor illness like a cold, a sedentary lifestyle coupled with eating more than required, like snacking in-between meals and eating junk food, over-treating low blood sugar or hypoglycemia, and missing your diabetes dosage if you are a diabetic on medicines.

Looking after one’s health requires a healthy lifestyle and periodic check-ups with blood tests to know the health status of your body. If the blood tests reveal raised levels of sugar, then it is advisable to visit a diabetes education center to understand the reasons, symptoms, and repercussions if the sugar levels go untreated and unchecked.

Symptoms of hyperglycemia

• Generally, people with high blood sugar levels do not show any immediate symptoms, especially if they have type 2 diabetes. The symptoms build over days and weeks.
• If the high sugar levels are left unchecked and untreated, the symptoms can become very serious, developing into further complications.
• If early symptoms persist for longer than normal, then please visit a diabetes education center for a thorough check-up.

Ø  Excessive thirst

Ø  Frequent urination

Ø  Feeling unusually tired and weak

Ø  Difficulty seeing due to blurred vision

• Later symptoms: Untreated hyperglycemia causes the buildup of toxic acids known as ketones. The condition of ketones in the blood and urine is called ketoacidosis, whose symptoms are:

Ø  Feeling of nausea with vomiting

Ø  Foul breath

Ø  Pain in the abdomen

Ø  Confusion

Ø  Breath shortness

Ø  Losing consciousness

The ill-effects of high blood sugar

Being indifferent or careless with hyperglycemia and letting it remain untreated can lead to severe and serious complications affecting other organs and even leading to death. Untreated high blood sugar and even long-lasting hyperglycemia that is not severe can lead to:

1. Damaging large blood vessels— or the macrovascular system, which directly impacts the legs, brain, and heart.
2. Damaging small blood vessels, or the microvascular, which affect the kidneys, feet, eyes, and nerves.
3. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death from heart attacks and strokes. The risk is higher for diabetics with high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, as well as those who have a family history of heart disease and are heavy smokers.
4. Damaging the eyes: Untreated diabetes can cause

• Retinopathy is the damaging of the blood vessels of the eyes, affecting the vision.
• Macular oedema, or macula, is a part of the retina and is responsible for clarity of vision. The damaged blood vessels cause the macula to swell with a buildup of fluid, causing blurry vision.
• Cataracts can develop at an early age in diabetics. In this case, the eyes get cloudy, causing cloudy and distorted vision.
• Glaucoma develops when the pressure of the fluid in the eyes rises to unhealthy levels, leading to damaged eyesight and loss of vision. People with diabetes have higher chances of developing glaucoma.

5. Nephropathy or kidney disease: Kidney disease is caused by changes in the microvascular system of the kidney. This disease does not show any symptoms until it reaches an advanced stage.
6. Neuropathy, or damaged nerves affecting the sensory and motor nerves controlling the action of the limbs and other organs of the body like the chest and stomach, Inform your doctor at the South Asian Diabetes Center if you are facing any problems with your limbs, stomach, bladder, or bowels.
7. Damaging the feet: Untreated diabetes or hyperglycemia damages both the macro and microvascular systems of the feet, leading to deformation of the feet, delayed healing, infections due to reduced blood supply and nerve function, loss of feeling in the feet, and ulcers. Get your feet checked by a podiatrist at the top South Asian diabetes center in New Jersey at least once a year, along with taking care of them at home.
8. Skin damage: Not addressing your high blood sugar levels will lead to damage to your skin by making it very dry and developing skin diseases. Skin is our largest organ and acts as our protector from environmental effects and infections.
9. Compromised dental health: Poorly managed high sugar levels lead to tooth decay and gum infections. Inflamed gums can also be one of the reasons for a heart attack.
10. Thyroid: Mismanaged diabetes can lead to thyroid disease, both hyperthyroid and hypothyroid, which can cause further chaos in the glucose levels.

High blood sugar levels, or diabetes, can be controlled by reaching out for timely help and intervention to the South Asian diabetes education and resource center to begin the treatment as early as possible.