Diabetes sequelae - Informed from A to S

Diabetes mellitus is the most common metabolic disease and its course is both chronic and "incurable. Apart from a lifelong adjustment with insulin or medication, however, the diabetes patient will not experience any major or dramatic disabilities in the course of his or her life as a result of the disease. Unless the patient is fated to succumb to one of the secondary diseases of diabetes, which, with the exception of the kidneys, are all directly or indirectly related to the bloodstream.

In the following, you will learn briefly and concisely about the affected areas of the body or directly the secondary diseases that diabetes can cause. All of them involve serious risks, which is why it is worth taking a closer look. We hope to sensitize you to pay attention to your lifestyle or to treat an existing diabetes with due care.

A - Eyes

The eyes and optic nerve are supplied with blood by a very finely woven network of blood vessels. With such delicate vessels, blood thickening affects a supply almost immediately. If vessels become permanently blocked in the eye or on the optic nerves, visual disturbances or clouding very quickly set in. Unless blood flow can be restored, vision will be permanently diminished. In the worst case, such vascular occlusions lead to complete blindness.

C - Cholesterol

Elevated cholesterol levels are not a disease, but they can promote vascular calcification and thus be responsible for cardiovascular disease. Diabetes patients have a higher risk of elevated cholesterol than healthy people.

D - Intestinal blockage

Diabetes patients often suffer from intestinal blockage (diabetic neuropathy). Even if this condition can be remedied with medication, digestive problems are anything but desirable. Furthermore, medications bring a high risk of side effects.

F - Foot syndrome

Occasionally, diabetes patients end up in the hospital with dead toes or feet with the only option being to amputate these body parts. The reason for this is vascular occlusion in the feet, which simultaneously damages or destroys the nerves in the affected regions. As a result, the sensation of pain is extinguished and incorrect footwear or swelling is no longer indicated by pain. In the long term, this leads to severe damage to the tissue and joints. In the worst case, the tissue dies and begins its decomposition process. To avoid tissue poisoning, doctors will then scrape out the affected tissue or, if the process is unfavorable, amputate toes or even entire feet. Since the number of such amputations is not small, it can be assumed that the course of such a disorder is largely gradual and painless. In fact, patients repeatedly emphasize that they would not have noticed the extent of this disorder. Unfortunately, this late insight will not save them from amputation.

H - Heart attack

Circulatory disorders in and around the heart region are a worst-case scenario, as they can lead to infarctions relatively quickly. Heart attacks can be survived. However, "silent infarcts" in particular are more likely to be fatal in women. Basically, a heart attack is considered a life-threatening emergency and may well - if not very likely - be fatal.

I - Insulin resistance

Insulin resistance is a prerequisite for type 2 diabetes. It causes the cells of the pancreas to primarily produce sufficient insulin, but the body does not accept this insulin. This results in a perceived undersupply of insulin, which in turn affects blood glucose levels and keeps diabetes alive.

L - Liver damage

Liver damage due to diabetes is very unlikely. Conversely, liver damage or too much fat deposited by the body in the liver (fatty liver) can cause one to develop type 2 diabetes.

N - Kidney failure

Blood pressure and also the slightly elevated blood sugar levels during diabetes can damage the kidneys or cause toxins to be deposited in other parts of the body as well. In the most unfavorable scenario, this leads to kidney failure and associated poisoning that is fatal. In a less unfavorable scenario, the diabetes patient would still become a dialysis patient due to kidney damage. A procedure which, when treated, is not life-threatening, but entails a high cost of treatment that puts the patient at an extreme disadvantage in terms of his or her lifestyle.

S - Stroke

A stroke, like a heart attack, is a potentially life-threatening medical emergency. It occurs when various regions in the brain are no longer supplied with blood due to a vascular occlusion. Since brain cells without oxygen supply immediately stop their activity, neurological deficits and signs of paralysis occur immediately during a stroke. In the case of a short-term circulatory disturbance, these deficits can be over within a few minutes. In the case of a complete, permanent vascular occlusion, the affected regions of the brain that are not supplied with blood are permanently damaged. To restore the blood supply in time, it is necessary to deliver a stroke patient to a hospital as quickly as possible. Many hospitals have set up special emergency wards (stroke units) that specialize in emergency stroke care. This became necessary after stroke became one of the medical emergencies that claimed the most lives and caused the most severe disabilities. Few other emergencies are more likely to result in a disability that makes independent living permanently impossible. Typical disabilities caused by stroke include the following:

• Loss of the ability to speak
• Hemiplegia
• Organ failure

The "treacherous" thing about a stroke is its sudden and unpredictable occurrence. As if "struck by a blow", a vessel closes and the brain immediately stops working in the affected regions. This often leads to immediate paralysis, in the course of which the patient falls over, can no longer speak or lift his left arm. If a stroke is suspected, one looks to see if the patient's face "hangs" on one side, if he can lift both arms, and if he is able to repeat a simple sentence. If none of this is successful, an emergency call should be made immediately to 112. The longer the patient remains without medical care, the greater the likelihood of serious consequential damage or even death.

In conclusion, it can be clearly seen that although diabetes mellitus in its capacity as a metabolic disorder with insulin deficiency is a disease that one can live with for a long time, it poses risks for diseases that one would not want to contract. All risk factors for diabetes likewise provide a good foundation for life-threatening circulatory disorders. While it is possible to survive these diseases and infarcts - one remains a risk patient for the rest of one's life and is put on appropriate medication. For all these diseases, a blood-thinning medication is prescribed. This alone makes it clear that an elevated blood glucose level accompanied by blood thickening is a dangerous condition in any case.