what is the most frightening feature of diabetes?
By drsjdcruz123
@drsjdcruz123 (36)
India
April 13, 2007 2:48am CST
considering that diabetes has a great deal of signs and symptoms like polyuria, polydipsia and polyphagia...there is a great deal of symptoms to choose from....but apart from these common symptoms, there are many others which are even more dangerous than these common ones......these affect the eyes, kidneys and other vital parts of the body which threatens the vitality of the body......also, it puts a restriction on the normal activity of the person........moreover, it causes a feeling of isolation in the affected person......thus, for all these reasons and also, to bring awareness in the people of mylot, i would like you to give out one of the frightening feature of diabetes and also, add why you find it so petrifying and what you would want people to do to reduce or eliminate that particular feature......mind you, basically all the features of diabetes are benign in the early stages and can be prevented......it is only in the latter stages that the condition turns to being irreversible and harms the patient........
4 people like this
8 responses
@xfahctor (14118)
• Lancaster, New Hampshire
14 Apr 07
My 16 year old daughter was diagnosed with type 1 6 years ago. Although she leads a farily normal life, it still changed many things. I think what frightens me the most is the thought of the long term affects. Kidney damage, eye damge, neural apathy just to name a few. Granted these can be minimized with proper care, it is still frightening. The thought of her being alone when her sugar crashes and not being their to administer a glucogon injection to bring her around scares me.
1 person likes this
@jbrooks0127 (2324)
• United States
15 Apr 07
Your fear is very real for anyone that has a type 1 diabetic. I have lived with a diabetic for many years and always knew this could happen but it took my second wife to make me see that it could happen.
If is very scary because it is so hidden. You have to know what is happening and not assume anything. I awoke one night, witch is unusual for me, and my wife was breathing pretty normal. She is normally a cold person but she was completely out from under the covers so I thought to touch her and she was dripping wet. That got my attention and got me moving. It was impossible to wake her. Even with paramedics, a trip to the hospital in the ambulance, the ER and all they do she remembers nothing of that night. She was very low.
The problem was that she took her normal doss of insulin that night without eating much for supper. That dosage was based upon the fact she had been running high sugars. It was too much.
I say all that not to make your fear worse but to try to insure that others will understand the possibilities.
@WanderZ (107)
• Singapore
13 Apr 07
I don't have diabetes, and i'm glad i'm not either.
i heard a lot about it, being unable to eat this or drink that, but i think if you get hurt and the wound doesn't heal is the worst part, because it might rot off, and no one wants that. If i lose any of my limbs i would be devastated. However i haven't started a healthy diet, though i wish i did. Hopefully no one is like me and drink so much sugar drinks...
1 person likes this
@mtdewgurl74 (18151)
• United States
13 Apr 07
Hey great discussion. My mother was diagnosed with diabetes 16 years ago. It runs in my family on both sides. Seems like everyone in my family has it. Everyone in my gandmothers family had it and my grandfather had it. I am border line and with me being obese I am high risk at getting it. My mother is suffering from all kinds of problems kidney and her eyes and her heart. I am so afraid she will go blind or die she has been complaining of her feet bothering her and hurting So she is supposed to see a doc. I am so afraid I will lose her to this diabetes but she won't change to much of her eating habits if she wants pop and sweets she consumes them sometimes without a second thought of what it is doing to her body. Maybe her next visit to the doc will be a wake up call for her to start eating nutritious and maybe she will have a longer life to live if she controls it better then she has been. I find it terrifying that she may lose her legs or eyes because she would just give up and die if she couldn't read which she loves to do and not being able to walk or play with her kids or go through a store without the help of a scooter or wheel chair it would cause her depression and more problems because once they cut on you you end up dying atleast that is what has happened with several people we knew that had diabetes and had things amputated.
@drsjdcruz123 (36)
• India
15 Apr 07
u mentioned that she has a problem with her feet...i think u better visit the doctor soon coz it may be a neurological symptom.....
@rsa101 (38166)
• Philippines
15 Apr 07
I guess one of the worse features of this disease is that it can cause us to be more susceptible to all kinds of disease like heart problems, liver problems, kidney problems, etc. even foot do have complications as well as eyes too. There are also studies that there seems to be link between cancer and diabetes wow....
@Ronimas (699)
• India
14 Apr 07
The most frightening feature of diabetes are,
1. Ketoacidosis: A serious condition due to lack of insulin which results in body fat being used up to form ketones and acids. Characterized by high blood glucose levels, ketones in the urine, vomiting, drowsiness, heavy labored breathing and smell of acetone on the breath.
2. Peripheral neuropathy: damage to the nerves supplying the nerves and skins. This can result in diminished sensation, particularly in feet and legs, and in muscle weakness.
3. Renal threshold: The level of glucose above which it will begin to spill into urine. When the blood glucose rises above usual renal threshold i.e 10mmo/1, glucose appears in the urine.
@tnbesq (34)
•
14 Apr 07
Mostly persons suffering from diabetes are aware of the threats their systems may face to.Myself being a diabetic would advise fellow diabetics that discipline in every step of daily life right from the early stages whether it is food intake or physical/mental activities is a must and must.Periodical blood sugar check up and time to time thorough physical check up should be treated as a regular going to the temple or to the church.
@lynne3 (66)
• United States
13 Apr 07
The most frightening to me is that it is like a cancer. A friend of mine had a piece of him taken off at a time. A toe, then another,then the whole foot. He had this all of his life and as he got older it got worse. It was a horrible thing to see someone go through. Also a cousin was blind by the time he was 30. Now my mom has adult onset and I worry how fast this will kill her and how much suffering she will go through. I don't know what anyone can do. To me, it's as bad as cancer.
