Diabetes Complications

Diabetes is a serious disease. Following your diabetes treatment plan takes round-the-clock commitment. But your efforts are worthwhile. Careful diabetes care can reduce your risk of serious — even life-threatening — complication.

What Parts of the Body May Develop Complications?

The parts of the body that can be most affected by diabetes complications are the:

* eyes
* kidneys
* nerves
* heart and blood vessels
* gums
* feet


Symptoms of the Diabetes Complications

* Diabetic retinopathy shows symptoms of pain in your eyes and may even result in loss of vision.
* Renal (kidney) disease shows symptoms of swelling (edema) in the feet and legs. It then passes over total body and as the disease progresses, blood pressure also increases.
* Tingling, burning, numbness, tightness, shooting or stabbing pain in the hands, feet or other parts of your body, especially at night. Digestive problems also occur if, the nerves controlling internal organs gets damaged (autonomic neuropathy).

Preventing macrovascular complications

Finding strategies to reduce the development of macrovascular complications has been challenging. The United Kingdom Prospective Diabetes Study (UKPDS), to date the largest and longest prospective randomised trial in people with type 2 diabetes, showed that intensive blood glucose control alone failed to reduce macrovascular complications significantly,5,6 although it did reduce microvascular complications. However, the same trial showed that treating hypertension did reduce macrovascular complications.

Common Infections in Diabetes

Infections are of particular concern for diabetics. People with diabetes are more susceptible to developing infections, as high blood sugar levels can weaken the patient's immune system defenses. In addition, some diabetes-related health issues increase the body's vulnerability to infection.

Long-term complications

Cardiovascular (heart) disease and stroke

Diabetes increases the risk of cardiovascular problems, including heart attacks and strokes. Canadian data indicate that people aged 35 to 64 who have diabetes are six times more likely to have heart disease or stroke than non-diabetics in the same age group.