Ailments and Situations - Diabetes - Causes and What to Expect

Causes:

See categorical sections in Symptoms and Signs, above.

What to Expect:

The complications that can occur with uncontrolled DM can be quite severe, affecting a variety of different organ systems throughout the body. Chronic hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance can play a role in the development of atherosclerosis, essential or primary hypertension, cardiovascular disease, and some forms of obesity. Heart disease is the leading cause of diabetes-related deaths. It you have diabetes you are two to four times more likely to develop heart disease than the general population. You also have a two to four time greater risk of having a stroke. Sixty to sixty-five percent of diabetics also have high blood pressure. Elevated serum cholesterol levels can lead can lead to gall stone formation and atherosclerosis. If the atherosclerosis progresses far enough, occlusion of blood vessels of the limbs can result in gangrene, while occlusion of the vessels of the heart can cause a myocardial infarction, and those of the brain, stroke.

Many people with DM develop changes in the small blood vessels, especially those of the retina and kidneys, leading to retinopathy and kidney disease respectively. DM is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease, and 40 percent of all new cases of kidney disease are due to diabetes. DM is also the leading cause of new cases of blindness in adults 20 to 74 years of age.

Sixty to seventy percent of diabetics develop some form of nerve damage. This manifests as numbness and tingling or pain to the feet and hands, loss of motor skills, slowed digestion, carpal tunnel syndrome, and other neuropathies. Severe forms of diabetic nerve disease are a major contributing cause of lower limb amputations. More than half of all amputations in the US occur among people with DM.

Other complications of diabetes include itching, boils, and arteriosclerosis. Periodontal disease occurs more frequently and severely for diabetics; it develops in 30% of people 19 years or older with IDDM. Diabetics are also more susceptible to other illnesses and are more likely to die of pneumonia or influenza.

Several problems can occur with diabetic women who are pregnant (these figures do not include those who develop GDM). The rate of major congenital malformation in babies born to women with pre-existing diabetes is from 0 to 5 percent in women with pre-conception care, to up to 10 percent for women with no pre-conception care. Also, three to five percent.