Hiya peeps,
I am aware of diabetic neuropathy and retinapathy (sp?), but what I am interested in are the long-term effects of untreated Type II diabetes, i.e. if a fellow with adult-onset diabetes recieves no treatment, but is able to continue to function (go to work, etc), what additional symptoms of the impairment can he expect? Dizziness, weakness, fainting spells???
Thanks for any info.
BA
I am not a doctor. I do have diabetes.
So far, even with treatment, my diabetes has affected my heart, kidneys, eyes, and brain. Possibly my liver and GI tract as well. High blood sugar tends to destroy various tissues. In addition, I am a very slow healer. I get yeast infections easily, which are very difficult to clear up, even with Diflucan.
Diabetes can lead to blindness and amputations. In a “fellow”, it can lead to impotence.
There’s a whole lot more to this disease, but I’ll leave it to the experts.
I am a nurse whose job is to provide disease management services to diabetics.
Basically, what Lynn said. The long-term complications of type II diabetes are many and nasty. Every system of the body is affected. It is conceivable that a type II diabetic who ignored their disease could end up blind, on dialysis, with multiple limb amputations, and in heart failure…
Even relatively mild blood sugar elevation can do a lot of damage if it goes on for any period of time. The focus on treatment of type II DM these days is prevention of these complications through control of blood glucose, cholesterol levels, and blood pressure. The American Diabetes Association has a very good website that discusses a lot of this (and more) in detail. They’re worth checking out.
Gytha
in the days before insulin they could only try to arrest its progress with dieting, with the side effect that they looked like Belsen victims
If not treated, and sometimes even despite treatment, people with diabetes develop a number of diabetic complications.
Take a look at the link (or, if you’d prefer, search the net for the terms “diabetes complications” and take your choice of hits), and if you’ve still got questions, post them. I guarantee they’ll be answered … eventually 