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| Untreated/Uncontrolled Diabetes |
Untreated diabetes also called uncontrolled diabetes, is when the control of your high blood sugar level isn’t done properly. This condition doesn’t only occur because of a patient’s decision not to manage their diabetes. It also happens when someone leaves their diabetes untreated because they were unaware and didn’t go for diagnosis.
High Blood Sugar Level
If you have diabetes and leaves the condition untreated, you may end up with
high blood sugar. Visit your healthcare provider to measure your blood sugar
and know the range your blood glucose falls in. If your blood sugar levels range
from 70 to 130 mg/dL before you eat and below 180 mg/dl 2 hours after you eat, then
it’s healthy.
Besides, high blood sugar is usually
associated with several symptoms such as:
- Blurred vision
- Increased
thirst or hunger
- Frequent
urination
- Fatigue
- Headaches
- Weight loss
- Slow-healing
cuts and sores
- Skin
infections
When your doctor thinks that you have diabetes or prediabetes (a
sign of type 2 diabetes), they recommend particular tests to ascertain the diagnosis.
Frequent Urination
Are you experiencing increased urination (polyuria)? Another
common sign of untreated diabetes is frequent urination. If you urinate up to 3
litres daily, your diagnosis will reveal that you have polyuria. Note that it is not the same with urinary frequency,
which refers to the times someone pees each day. In diabetic people, polyuria
is linked to excessive thirst.
When your body naturally tries to get rid of excess sugar, it leads to frequent urination. Typically, when the kidneys create urine, they reabsorb all the sugar, directing it back to the bloodstream. In diabetic cases, excess glucose enters the urine and pulls more water, hence more urine.
Excessive Thirst
Another symptom of diabetes is polydipsia, an excessive form of
thirst. As s diabetic person, your kidneys work harder when filtering and
absorbing the excess glucose in your blood. When your kidneys fail to keep up,
the excess glucose gets excreted into your urine, bringing with it fluids from
your tissues and making you dehydrated. That’s where the thirst comes from.
Blurred Vision
When diabetes is uncontrolled, high blood sugar levels can
damage small blood vessels. This includes those in your eyes. Those are blood
vessels that connect to
the retina. Note that the retina is
responsible for eyesight and with such a condition, you get blurred vision.
Additionally, excessive blood glucose can cause fluid to move in
and out of your eye, causing your eye lens to swell. When there is a change in
the shape of the lens, it distorts the focus of light to the retina, causing blurriness.
Fatigue
People with diabetes commonly suffer from
fatigue, which causes the body cells to be unable
to make use of the glucose your body gets through the food you eat. The result is
fatigue and weakness.
Poor Wound Healing
If you have
high blood sugar, it can affect the way your white blood cells function. These
are immune system cells that fight off bacteria and viruses. White blood cells
that don’t function properly can neither fight off foreign threats nor heal
wounds properly.
If your
diabetic condition is uncontrolled, your blood can’t circulate well, hence preventing
the supply of nutrients to wounds for their healing.
Learning about the signs and symptoms of untreated diabetes
and getting diagnosed and treated early on is the best way to prevent the
impending life-threatening complications that usually follow.
If you have a question or comment about diabetes, feel free
to leave it in the comment section below.
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