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Symptoms of Diabetes
By peace | November 20, 2007
People with type I and II diabetes experience some of the same symptoms. However, there is a difference in their severity.
Symptoms of Type I Diabetes: Insulin-Dependent Diabetes
- constant, severe thirst
- frequent urination
- sudden and dramatic weight loss
- severe tiredness
- blurred vision
Occasionally, the patient will experience dehydration, urinary infection, cystitis, vomiting, keto-acidotic coma and itchy genitals.
Symptoms of Type II Diabetes: Late-Onset Diabetes
- Feeling more thirsty than usual
- More frequent urination
- some loss of weight
- feeling tired and lacking in energy
Occasionally, the patient will experience genital itching and blurred vision.
A person with untreated type I diabetes can go into a keto-acidotic coma because lack of insulin causes the breakdown of body fat and muscle to provide energy, producing by-products called ketones. If this happens, he or she will probably need to be admitted to hospital to have their blood glucose brought under control and stabilized.
Since the body cannot make proper use of glucose for fuel, it breaks down fat and muscle tissue to use as fuel, sometimes causing rapid and dramatic loss of weight.
In contrast, non-insulin-dependent diabetes usually develops quite slowly, often over a number of years. In this time, the person affected may experience few or even no symptoms, or such mild ones that they are easily dismissed or ignored. In such cases, the chance of falling into a coma are very slight.
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