It’s often said that once diabetes develops, it requires lifelong management. This is because individuals with diabetes need to be vigilant about the onset of diabetic complications. For those with type 1 diabetes, complications, whether minor or major, are known to occur at least once, and it’s also known that if individuals with type 2 diabetes do not manage their blood sugar levels well, complications can develop. Moreover, diabetic complications can occur due to a variety of causes so if you have diabetes, you should not take a relaxed approach of ‘I’ll start managing it when symptoms appear.’ Diabetes is a disease that is not scary as long as it is well managed, but if it is not well managed, it can cause lifelong suffering. Let’s learn more about diabetic complications, which are more frightening than diabetes itself.
[What are Diabetic Complications?]
Caused by diabetes,
Secondary diseases develop.
Diabetic complications refer to symptoms of secondary diseases that develop due to diabetes. Complications from diabetes can be divided into acute and chronic. Acute complications in diabetes refer to a state where blood sugar control fails, causing a rapid rise or drastic drop in blood sugar levels. Chronic complications occur when diabetes management fails over a long period and can occur in any part of the body.
[Causes of Diabetic Complications]
Most diabetic complications are reported to appear as a result of vascular-related issues. Long-term high blood sugar levels can narrow both large and small blood vessels. Narrowed blood vessels reduce blood flow to many parts of the body causing various problems. There are several causes for the narrowing of blood vessels. Complex sugar-based substances accumulate on the walls of small blood vessels thickening them. Also, when blood sugar levels are not well controlled, the level of lipid substances in the blood can increase, leading to atherosclerosis and further reduction of blood flow in larger vessels.
[Diabetic Complications]
Vascular Complications (Atherosclerosis)
Atherosclerosis causes heart attacks and strokes. It is reported that atherosclerosis occurs 2-4 times more often in young patients with diabetes than in people without diabetes. Over time, narrowed blood vessels damage the heart, brain, legs, eyes, skin, and kidneys, and can cause various symptoms such as angina, heart failure, stroke, leg claudication during walking, vision impairment, and more.
[Diabetic Retinopathy]
Diabetic retinopathy is a diabetes-related eye complication that can cause vision loss and in severe cases, lead to blindness. The first change is the weakening of the blood vessels, and weakened blood vessels can cause bleeding or allow the fat components in the blood to leak out and accumulate on the retina. If high blood sugar levels are maintained diabetic retinopathy can quickly worsen and new blood vessels can form on the retina. These new blood vessels are not healthy and are very weak, easily leading to destruction.
[Diabetic Foot Syndrome]
Photo: YouTube
Diabetic foot syndrome refers to all problems that occur in the feet of people with diabetes. In Korea, about 2,000 people a year are known to have part of their foot amputated due to diabetic foot syndrome. Diabetic foot syndrome is a serious diabetic complication that ranks first in limb amputations in Korea. Neuropathy and peripheral vascular disease due to diabetes are important causes of foot ulcers or exacerbations due to diabetes. About 15% of patients with diabetes suffer from foot ulcers at least once in their lifetime, and among them, 1-3% of patients are known to undergo surgery to amputate part of their leg.
[Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy]
According to the disease encyclopedia of Seoul Asan Hospital, diabetic peripheral neuropathy is one of the complications of diabetes that appear in diabetic patients. It refers to the symptoms of various problems caused by nerve damage due to long-term suffering from diabetes. It can appear in all nervous systems, but it often appears in the peripheral nervous system. Diabetic peripheral neuropathy causes a lot of discomfort in daily life and can even cause severe disabilities, so it is classified as a disease that urgently needs treatment.
[Diabetic Ketoacidosis]
Diabetic ketoacidosis is one of the acute complications of diabetes characterized by high blood sugar, metabolic acidosis, and ketosis. Diabetic ketoacidosis mainly occurs in patients with type 1 diabetes, where insulin is not produced in the pancreas, but can also occur in patients with type 2 diabetes. Some patients who visit the hospital with diabetic ketoacidosis are known to be diagnosed with diabetes because they did not know they had diabetes.
[Diabetic Cardiovascular Disease – Coronary Artery Disease]
According to data from the Diabetes Education Room at Samsung Seoul Hospital, coronary artery disease is a disease that occurs when the amount of oxygen supplied through the coronary arteries is less than the amount required by the myocardium. Myocardial ischemia is classified into angina, where there is myocardial ischemia but no myocardial necrosis, and myocardial infarction, which is accompanied by myocardial necrosis. The symptom of coronary artery disease is chest pain. Patients typically complain of pain behind the sternum or to the left of the sternum, described as ‘squeezing’, ‘pressing’, or ‘stiff’.
[Skin Problems in Diabetes]
In the case of diabetes, poor circulation in the skin can lead to ulcers or infections and slow the healing of wounds. Diabetic patients are especially prone to ulcers and infections in the feet and legs. Once these wounds occur, they may heal slowly or not at all. Also, fungal infections can often occur on the skin of diabetic patients. This is because white blood cells cannot effectively counteract infections when blood sugar levels are high. These developing infections tend to be severe and take longer to resolve than in non-diabetic individuals.
[Prevention of Diabetic Complications]
Thorough Diagnosis and
Blood Sugar Management are Important!
If you have diabetes, you should have kidney function tests, lipid tests, electrocardiograms, chest X-rays, and dental examinations every year. In the case of type 2 diabetes, it is known that 5-10% of patients already have diabetic complications at the time of diagnosis, so it is known that you should receive a complication test from the time of diagnosis of diabetes, and it is good to regularly check for the presence or absence of complications afterward. To prevent diabetic complications, it is important to manage blood sugar well, and it is important to control blood pressure, cholesterol, and weight thoroughly, and not to smoke, in addition to blood sugar.
By. Tae Yeon Kim
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