What an Echocardiogram Can Reveal About Your Heart
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Don't Let Diabetes Sneak up on You
November is National Diabetes Month. Diabetes is treatable, but only if you know you have it. Researchers say about 20% of people who have diabetes don’t know it, and 80% of those with prediabetes are unaware of the condition.
Knowing the early warning signs allows you to start treatment before your diabetes gets out of control. You can even reverse prediabetes and some cases of diabetes with lifestyle changes.
Our board-certified team at Healthstone Primary Care, with three Florida locations, treats many diabetes patients. Check out these common warning signs.
1. Numbness/tingling in your hands or feet
Diabetes often affects your hands and feet first because high blood sugar lowers blood flow to your extremities, resulting in nerve damage.
You need regular foot care appointments when you have diabetes. With numb areas on your feet, for example, you may not notice a cut or scrape, increasing your risk of infection and other complications.
2. Blurred vision
Diabetes can affect your vision. Your blood vessels bring fresh nutrients to all parts of your body, including your eyes. Blurred vision could signal that high blood sugar has damaged the blood vessels in your eyes. In the early stages of diabetes, blurred vision is intermittent.
Always get your eyes checked if you experience a change in vision. Untreated diabetes can result in vision loss and even blindness. Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in adults who aren’t seniors.
3. Frequent need to urinate
Have you noticed a change in your urinary habits? Do you urinate before going out and find that after driving for 30 minutes, you need to go again? Frequent urination is a common sign of diabetes. Your kidneys must work harder to filter the excess sugar, generating more urine.
4. Always feeling thirsty
Because you’re urinating more frequently, you likely feel thirsty more often. If you’re caught in a cycle of drinking water and going to the bathroom, that may indicate diabetes.
5. Weight change
Do you feel hungry all the time? If you have diabetes, sugar usually absorbed for energy stays in your blood, and your tissues, muscles, and brain don’t get enough energy. Your body uses fat and muscle as an energy source, so you may lose weight even though you’re not dieting.
6. Wounds that take a long time to heal
Diabetes slows blood circulation, so a cut or scrape that hasn’t healed after several weeks could indicate diabetes. Your body isn’t bringing enough oxygen and other nutrients to the site of your wound to help it heal. Wounds slow to heal are more prone to infections.
The early signs of diabetes are often subtle. Attending your regularly scheduled wellness exams helps us monitor your health and identify signs of diabetes or other health conditions.
If you have diabetes or prediabetes, your Healthstone Primary Care provider can be your partner in managing the condition and making lifestyle changes to reverse or slow its progress.
Call the Healthstone Primary Care office in Weston, Pembroke Pines, or Davie, Florida, or request an appointment online today.
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