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Is Weight Loss A Sign Of Diabetes


Weight Loss In Children

Sugar and Spike: The Signs of Pet Diabetes Appetite Changes and Weight Loss

Unexplained weight loss can occur in people who have type 2 diabetes, but its more common in people with type 1. Type 1 diabetes usually affects children and adolescents. Parents are often the first to notice an unusual weight loss in a child with type 1 diabetes.

Weight loss in kids with diabetes can occur even in those who have a normal or increased appetite for the same reasons it happens in adults with diabetes. Once kids are diagnosed and treated for diabetes, weight loss ceases and typically returns to normal.

What Are The Early Signs Of Diabetes In Women

The first thing you should know is that the early signs of diabetes type 1 generally appear during childhood or teens. In other words, youre born with this autoimmune condition.

On the other hand, diabetes type 2 symptoms could develop over the years as you age. Since its caused by lifestyle changes, they are a lot more difficult to diagnose.


Lets go over the first warning symptoms of high blood sugar that you need to look out for:

How Is Diabetes Diagnosed

Diabetes is diagnosed with the following tests:

  • A1C test
  • Bile acid sequestrants such as
  • SGLT2 inhibitors such as dapagliflozin , canagliflozin , empagliflozin , and ertugliflozin
  • GLP-1 receptor agonists such as lixisenatide , , semaglutide , albiglutide , dulaglutide , and
  • Amylin analog such as acetate
  • Combination medicines, which may be made up of more than one medication in the above classes
  • People with gestational diabetes may need insulin or metformin
  • If lifestyle changes and medications are insufficient, other treatments for diabetes may include:

    • Weight-loss surgery for certain patients who are obese
    • Artificial pancreas

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    So What May Be Things Noticeable Early Warning Signs Of Diabetes

    Both Type 1 and Type 2 share some of the same warning signs in variable degrees.


    Urinating more frequently and increased thirst.

    This side effect typically happens if blood sugars are running more than 200 on average.

    In a 24-hour period, the average individual urinates between 4 and 7 times but individuals with diabetes, go much more. So how does peeing more relate to diabetes? Well, your body reabsorbs glucose as it passes through your kidneys normally. Diabetes causes your blood sugar to increase above 180 mg/dL which is the renal threshold for maximum blood sugar to be able to reabsorb the glucose by the kidneys. So, your kidneys may be unable to absorb it all. Since the glucose is on osmotic substance meaning it tracks the weather with it, this creates more urine. With your body making more urine, it requires more fluids. If the fluid loss is more than the fluid intake dehydration can happen. Of course, the bodys need to make more urine leads to increased thirst due to the dehydration.

    Hunger and Fatigue

    Blurry Vision

    With diabetes, fluid levels change in the body. This change in the fluid can make the eye lenses swell up which causes an inability to focus leading to blurry vision. Rapid changes in blood sugars also will change in the thickness of the lens which can also lead to blurry vision.

    Dry and itchy skin

    The symptoms listed below present if your blood sugar has been high for a long time.

    Slow Healing sores or cuts.

    Pain or numbness in your feet or legs.

    Common Symptoms Of Type 1 And Type 2 Diabetes Include:

    Symptoms of diabetes which you must keep a check on ...

    Fatigue, or feeling constantly tired: In diabetes, the body is inefficient and sometimes unable to use glucose for fuel. The body switches over to metabolising fat, partially or completely, as a fuel source. This process requires the body to use more energy. The end result is feeling fatigued or constantly tired.

    Unexplained weight loss: People with diabetes are unable to process many of the calories in the foods they eat. Thus, they may lose weight even though they eat an apparently appropriate or even an excessive amount of food. Losing sugar and water in the urine and the accompanying dehydration also contributes to weight loss.


    Excessive thirst : A person with diabetes develops high blood sugar levels, which overwhelms the kidneys ability to reabsorb the sugar as the blood is filtered to make urine. Excessive urine is made as the kidney spills the excess sugar. The body tries to counteract this by sending a signal to the brain to dilute the blood, which translates into thirst. The body encourages more water consumption to dilute the high blood sugar back to normal levels and to compensate for the water lost by excessive urination

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    Type 1 Diabetes And Pregnancy

    Women with type 1 diabetes need to let their doctors know if they plan to become pregnant. Poor control of their blood sugars may cause complications such as birth defects. Planning ahead, even before conception, to control blood sugar levels can lower the risk of miscarriage and birth defects. During pregnancy, it is important to test blood glucose often and keep your A1c below 7%. Good blood sugar control can reduce other complications during pregnancy such as high blood pressure or retinal damage in the mother.

    Preeclampsia is a condition that 18%-30% of pregnant women with diabetes develop. Preeclampsia develops after the 20-week mark and is characterized by high blood pressure and proteins in the urine. It is important to treat preeclampsia, if untreated it may harm the baby and put the mother at risk for stroke and seizures. Once the baby is born and if the mother is breastfeeding, it is important for her to check her glucose levels frequently.

    Symptoms Of Type 1 Diabetes

    You might notice:


    • Unplanned weight loss. If your body can’t get energy from your food, it will start burning muscle and fat for energy instead. You may lose weight even though you haven’t changed how you eat.
    • Nausea and vomiting. When your body resorts to burning fat, it makes ketones. These can build up in your blood to dangerous levels, a possibly life-threatening condition called diabetic ketoacidosis. Ketones can make you feel sick to your stomach.

    Also Check: A1c 4.5

    How Can You Lower You Blood Sugar Levels Quickly

    My first recommendation is to visit a doctor if you notice the first warning symptoms of diabetes. Youll need immediate medication to improve insulin functioning.

    Next, your doctor might advise you to change your lifestyle. Managing symptoms by altering your lifestyle is the easiest way to regulate sugar & reverse diabetes in the long run.

    Here are some tips to manage early signs of too high blood sugar:

    • Tip 1:

    Start eating healthy. Cut down on high carb foods as they might increase your weight. Be sensible with red meat intake. Also avoid sugary stuff such as carbonated drinks, sweetened cereals, and dried foods.


    • Tip 2:

    Exercise daily. This will help you stay fit, avoid weight gain, & naturally regulate blood sugar levels.

    • Tip 3:

    Avoid binge-drinking. Alcohol can be a fatal enemy for diabetics if you dont practice caution.

    • Tip 4:

    Monitor your blood glucose often. Make it a habit to check your blood sugar levels daily. Type 2 diabetics should check their sugar at least once a day.

    • Tip 5:

    Take your medicine on time. Failing to take insulin on time can spike your glucose to dangerous levels and you might end up in the ER.

    • Tip 6:

    Quit smoking. Nicotine messes with the effect of insulin and makes it difficult to manage diabetic symptoms.


    If youve experienced any such symptoms, what was your experience like? Also, did you notice any other unique early signs of diabetes or prediabetes before your diagnosis? Share with me in the comments below.

    References:

    Youre Losing Weightbut Arent Trying To

    Diabetes And Weight Loss Symptom No 6 Of 6 First Signs Of Diabetes

    Unexplained weight loss can happen for lots of reasons, and diabetes is one of them. Goundan explains that insulin helps your body move sugar from your blood to your cells, so when you have an insulin resistance, you dont get enough energy into your cells despite all that sugar flowing through your body. Because youre unable to get enough energy from sugar, your body burns your own fat and muscle for energy, Kellis says. Weight loss can be pretty significant, sometimes 10 to 20 pounds.

    Generally, doctors recommend visiting the doc if you unintentionally lose between 5 to 10 percent of your body weight over the course of six months.

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    When To Call Your Doctor

    When you undergo an unintentional weight loss of more than 5% of your usual body weight, or if you lose more than 10 pounds of weight between six to twelve months, you should call your doctor. The doctor will be able to assess the cause of the weight loss and the right treatment for you.

    You may even call your doctor if you experience any excessive symptoms of diabetes such as fatigue, dizziness, blurred vision, slow healing, extreme hunger, genital itchiness, and excessive urination.

    Are you suffering from unexplained weight loss, or are you experiencing symptoms related to Type 2 Diabetes? Visit our team of experts at MI Express Primary Care for the best treatment plans for diabetes management and controlling unexplained weight loss.

    What Is My Risk For Diabetes

    While physicians and researchers have established a link between obesity and Type 2 diabetes, genetics and environment play a huge role in determining who will develop diabetes. While this relationship is not completely understood by doctors and researchers, what we do think is that your genes and environment contribute to your baseline risk of developing diabetes. If you are obese, you can reduce this risk by eating a low-fat, low-sugar diet and exercising regularly.

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    The Benefits Of Weight Loss For Diabetes

    Type 2 diabetes occurs when your body becomes resistant to insulin, causing sugar to build up in the blood. Having overweight or obesity puts you at a much higher risk for developing diabetes, and it makes blood sugar levels harder to manage.

    In fact, research shows that losing just 5 to 7 percent of body weight may reduce the chance of developing type 2 diabetes by over 50 percent in adults at high risk for the disease.

    There are many benefits to losing weight when you have type 2 diabetes. These include:

    • , which makes it easier to reach target blood sugar levels
    • improvements in overall energy level and mood
    • levels
    • lower chance of developing complications from diabetes, like kidney or heart disease

    In some cases, weight loss can even restore blood sugar to a normal level and eliminate the need to take type 2 diabetes medications.

    If you have type 1 diabetes, weight gain may occur once you start taking insulin. Losing weight may require fine-tuning your calorie and carbohydrate intake and insulin dose.


    People with type 1 diabetes can also develop insulin resistance, and in that situation, would benefit from weight loss to help them need less insulin.

    Certain medications used to treat diabetes also help with weight loss, including:

    Tingling Or Numbness In Hands Or Feet

    Diabetes Symptoms can lead to high blood glucose and ...

    A tingling or numb sensation in the bodys extremities such as hands and feet is a common early sign of diabetes.

    It tends to occur first thing in the morning after you wake up, and can even feel more like a burning sensation.

    Why does this happen?: Sugar that lingers in the blood will begin to damage nerves and nerve-endings. Nerves that are furthest from the heart are not well repaired due to circulation problems.

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    Youve Dark Skin Patches

    Dark velvety skin patches in certain body parts are symptoms of prediabetes a condition that indicates early onset of diabetes. Prediabetics are often at risk of developing type 2 diabetes later on.

    In some women, symptoms of too high blood sugar can develop diabetic dermopathy. This condition causes circular, scaly, red, black, or brown patches on feet. They are easily visible and usually at the front of the feet.

    If you notice any visible dark spots on the neck, legs, groin, underarms, or elsewhere, it may be one of the early signs of diabetes.

    Assemble Your Diabetes Support Team

    Managing diabetes is a lifelong challenge and one that will be much easier if you have a good support system around you. Make sure you have a great medical team, which should include your doctor, dentist, optometrist, podiatrist and possibly even a dietitian. You should also enlist your friends and family. They can help spot signs of diabetes that you might not notice immediately.

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    Cuts Or Wounds That Are Very Slow To Heal

    Its not uncommon for an individual with high blood sugars to get a bruise or cut that just does not heal.

    This is particularly common on the extremities that are furthest from the heart, like hands or feet.

    Why does this happen?: Sugar lingering in the bloodstream begins to damage the arteries and veins, which restricts circulation. Blood is required to facilitate healing, so limited circulation to a wound or bruise will slow the healing process dramatically.

    Type 1 Diabetes And Exercise

    Learn How To Lose Weight And Help Type 2 Diabetes Symptoms

    People with type 1 diabetes benefit from exercise, but they need to take precautions to prevent sudden drops in blood glucose levels. Diabetics should check their blood sugars before exercising and may require eating a snack before or during exercise. They may need to adjust their insulin dosage before exercising to ensure they stay within normal ranges of blood glucose. People with type 1 diabetes may also need to check their urine for ketones â ketones suggest that your blood sugar is too high. Strenuous activity needs to be avoided if ketones are detected or if your blood sugar level is either high or low before exercise.

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    Diabetes Cause Weight Gain And Weight Loss In Others

    Are you overweight and have diabetes as well? Or should I ask, your obesity led you to diabetes? The answer can be anything. And sometimes diabetes and weight loss are also observed in some patients. You must have heard about how diabetes is associated with being overweight or underweight. Obesity is a condition in which the diabetic may have to experience the worst outcomes.


    Other Symptoms Of Diabetes

    In addition to unexplained weight loss and excessive hunger, excess thirst and increased urination are two of the other most common symptoms of diabetes. High blood sugar levels forces the kidneys to work overtime in order to clear the excess glucose through urine, according to JDRF. This causes a person with untreated diabetes to urinate more frequently. To make more urine, the kidneys need more water, causing excess thirst.

    Dr. Halprin points out that excessive urination can also play a major role in the unintentional weight loss related to diabetes. “The reason a person pees a lot is because the body is trying to get rid of all the sugar,” she notes meaning the glucose that was supposed to go to the cells. “The body’s not holding onto it. So that’s where all the calories go: down the toilet.”

    According to the Mayo Clinic, additional symptoms of diabetes can include fatigue, blurred vision, slow-healing sores, frequent infections and/or numbness in the hands or feet.

    Read more:How Low-Carb Diets Can Affects Your Blood Sugar Levels

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    Early Signs Of Diabetes

    Both types of diabetes have some of the same telltale warning signs.

    • Hunger and fatigue. Your body converts the food you eat into glucose that your cells use for energy. But your cells need insulin to take in glucose. If your body doesn’t make enough or any insulin, or if your cells resist the insulin your body makes, the glucose can’t get into them and you have no energy. This can make you hungrier and more tired than usual.
    • Peeing more often and being thirstier. The average person usually has to pee between four and seven times in 24 hours, but people with diabetes may go a lot more. Why? Normally, your body reabsorbs glucose as it passes through your kidneys. But when diabetes pushes your blood sugar up, your kidneys may not be able to bring it all back in. This causes the body to make more urine, and that takes fluids. The result: You’ll have to go more often. You might pee out more, too. Because you’re peeing so much, you can get very thirsty. When you drink more, you’ll also pee more.
    • Dry mouth and itchy skin. Because your body is using fluids to make pee, there’s less moisture for other things. You could get dehydrated, and your mouth may feel dry. Dry skin can make you itchy.
    • Blurred vision. Changing fluid levels in your body could make the lenses in your eyes swell up. They change shape and canââ¬â¢t focus.

    What Are The Long Term Health Effects Of Diabetes

    DIABETES WARNING SIGNS:

    If you dont recognize the first warning signs of high blood sugar, the glucose levels will remain unmanaged for a long time. Consequently, you might develop serious health risks.

    Studies show that untreated diabetes even contributes to early death in women!

    For example, lets talk about diabetes in pregnancy or gestational diabetes. Its quite harmful for your babys wellbeing.

    Gestational diabetes leads to premature delivery, or , C-section, and stillbirth. In some cases, pregnancy diabetes may cause birth deformities.

    Thus, knowing the dangerous symptoms of gestational diabetes can prevent these pregnancy complications.

    Additionally, long-term diabetes leads to the following health risks in women:

    • Coronary heart disease
    • Breast cancer
    • Skin problems

    If you notice any of the above symptoms of high blood sugar, the first thing you should do is visit a healthcare professional.

    Theyll probably ask you to go for a diabetes diagnosis blood test to determine which type of diabetes you have OR how dangerous it is.

    Lets get to the warning signs of diabetes so you can start proper treatment right away.

    Read More: How to Prepare for Your Diabetes Diagnosis Test

    Also Check: Life Expectancy Of Someone With Type 1 Diabetes

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