Many people wonder how Diabetes affects the body and whether or not you have been recently diagnosed with a form of diabetes or not, it is important to thoroughly understand this health condition. Millions of people are diagnosed with type 1 or type 2 diabetes on a yearly basis and with no cure; this is a health condition you will have to live with for the duration of your life. Within this article we are going to outline how diabetes affects the body. With this information you can decide for yourself what you need to do to avoid this health condition in your future or prevent further damage to your body if you currently have diabetes.

The majority of people already know that diabetes means high blood sugar. What you may not know is that high blood sugar causes increased thirst, frequent urination, excessive hunger, fatigue weight loss and blurred vision to name a few of the most common. Living with high blood sugar for long periods of time can cause a number of negative effects throughout your body.

Listed is how Diabetes Affects the body from top to bottom:

How your kidneys are affected: long term diabetes can lead to a condition known as diabetic nephropathy. This condition refers tiny blood vessels of the kidney becoming damaged. Depending on the extent of this damage, your kidneys may begin to malfunction by not filtering waste properly and this can then lead to a number of other kidney diseases if not kidney transplants altogether.

How your eyes are affected: diabetic retinopathy is a bit more common than diabetic nephropathy but it is just as serious. Uncontrolled high blood sugar for long periods of time can actually cause the blood vessels within your eyes to expand to the point where they can collapse. Although new blood vessels will develop they will likely be defective and this can be the cause of blurred vision and eventual blindness if left unchecked.

How your coronary arteries are affected: it has been noted that diabetes greatly increases the risk of heart disease and cardiovascular disease. High blood sugar can actually harden your arteries and narrow them as well greatly increasing your risk of high blood pressure, stroke and heart attack.

How your nerves are affected: diabetes is one of the leading conditions today contributing to long term nerve damage. The excess sugars in the blood stream can over time actually damage the blood vessel wall and eventually make their way to the nerve itself. Symptoms of diabetic neuropathy include numbness and tingling to name a few and the feet are generally the first to experience this nerve damage.

How your feet are affected: it is widely known that diabetics have to pay close attention to their feet not only because of nerve damage but because of diabetic ulcers as well. When loss of feeling in the feet occurs, severe infections and injuries can occur which can eventually lead to amputations.

It can now seem overwhelming to learn how diabetes affects the body but the majority of diabetics manage to keep their condition well under control to avoid these problems.