Diabetes Complications

What problems does a high blood sugar cause?

High sugar passes through the kidneys and causes an increased volume of urine. This can lead to increased thirst. Although the sugar is high in the blood, it cannot be used for energy by the body and people with out of control diabetes may lose weight ("starvation in the midst of plenty"). The high sugar can also damage parts of the body, either directly by combining with tissues in the body or indirectly by changing the chemistry of the body. By causing tissue damage, high sugar can lead to nerve damage, heart attacks, strokes, peripheral vascular disease (causing pain in the legs and ulcers in the feet), cataracts, loss of vision, and kidney damage.

Related Conditions

Type 2 diabetics are often (but not always) overweight, and they can have other conditions such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol. These conditions can also lead to strokes and heart attacks as well as peripheral vascular disease. The combination of uncontrolled diabetes, along with poorly controlled hypertension and high cholesterol, greatly increases the risk of vascular damage and the complications just mentioned. Cigarette smoking, which is also associated with vascular damage is bad for everyone and even more so for diabetics. hide

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So much of what we are told about discoveries is a simplified version of what really happens in the scientific world. Scientists are human, just like the rest of us, and the path to discovery can be a very interesting story that shows just how human scientists are.

Such a story lies behind the discovery of insulin and its’ travels to market—a drug that we all tend to take for granted in the world of diabetes! - Read More

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Complications