Symptoms of diabetes
Dr Subramanian Kannan, Senior Consultant, Director of Endocrinology & Diabetes, Narayana Medical City (Bengaluru, India) said: " Diabetes is a chronic disease that has progressed silently for many years. If not detected and controlled, the disease can cause serious damage".
Many symptoms of diabetes are often overlooked because they are easily confused with familiar problems in daily life. For example, blurred vision can be caused by looking at the screen for too long, rapid weight loss can be thought to be caused by stress, or prolonged fatigue is considered normal. According to experts, when patients come to the hospital, many damages may have occurred silently.
Currently, the number of people with diabetes worldwide is increasing rapidly. It is estimated that hundreds of millions of adults are living with the disease and this number is expected to continue to increase in the coming years.
Early recognition of warning signs is very important to prevent complications. Some common symptoms include: high thirst, frequent urination, constant hunger, unexplained weight loss, blurred vision, long-term wounds, along with recurrent skin, urine or myofer infections. Prolonged high blood sugar can weaken the immune system, making the body more susceptible to infections than usual.
Stress and its impact on blood sugar
According to Dr. Subramanian Kannan, prolonged stress can affect blood sugar through hormonal reactions in the body. When under pressure, the body produces many hormones that cause blood sugar to increase and gradually reduce the ability to respond to insulin.
Stress also changes sleep and eating behavior, thereby contributing to the worsening of metabolic disorders. Therefore, staying mentally stable and maintaining a relaxation routine is an important part of disease control.
How to protect children from the risk of genetic diabetes?
A worrying trend is that the number of children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes is increasing. Although genetics can contribute, the main cause comes from lifestyle, especially a diet high in sugar, sweet drinks, processed foods and lack of exercise. When children consume too much sugar, blood sugar increases rapidly, causing the pancreas to work continuously. Over time, the body becomes resistant to insulin and leads to diabetes.
To protect children, Dr. Subramanian Kannan recommends limiting daily sugar intake to less than 25g (about six teaspoons). Children should limit sweets, reduce processed foods and replace them with foods rich in fiber such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains and beans. More importantly, it is necessary to form healthy eating habits from a young age and understand that food is a source of energy for the body, not a reward.
