High blood sugar is one of the most common conditions that are plaguing the health of millions of people living in America today, yet, the percentage of these people who walk about without the slightest knowledge that they have it still number by the thousands.
In fact, statistical data provided by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) shows that out of the 30 million people living in the U.S. that are suffering from some form of diabetes, a staggering 25 percent of them are not aware in the slightest that they have it.
Even more worse, studies made by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reveal that out of the 84 million people (or one in three people) that are suffering from prediabetes (when the blood sugar is higher than normal), a shocking 90 percent of them don’t know they have it.
Per experts, part of it is because many people don’t know what the symptoms of high blood sugar look like.
“We have so many individuals at high risk today in the U.S. who are unaware,” Betul Hatipoglu, M.D., an endocrinologist at the Cleveland Clinic, said. As such, it’s important to know these signs in order to seek immediate medical help.
Here’s what to look out for:
- Frequent urination – “When you have too much sugar in your blood, your kidneys start trying to pour out more sugar to get rid of it. And as they excrete the sugar, they pull out water with it,” Dr. Hatipoglu said. This also results in frequent thirst since you become dehydrated.
- Fatigue – The earliest and most common sign of high blood sugar is tiredness.
- Blurred vision – Excess sugar in the blood can cause blurry vision, another clear symptom.
- Headaches – Dehydration caused by high blood sugar can lead to constant headaches.
- Slow-healing sores – High blood sugar can affect your circulation as well, which would impair blood flow and the ability to heal wounds.
- Dental issues – Surprisingly, high blood sugar can also affect your teeth, and the overabundance of glucose in your blood can cause bacteria to grow in your mouth.
- Recurrent infections – Per CDC, elevated blood sugar levels can weaken the body’s immune response .
Conclusion
People tend to ignore their condition due to misinformation and some myths about high blood pressure, which could negatively affect how one treats high blood pressure.
