What Actually is Diabetes?
Your main energy source is blood glucose, which comes from the food you eat. Here's what you should know about diabetes.
Diabetes is a type of group of metabolic diseases, in which a person has high blood sugar levels, due to problems processing or producing insulin. This metabolic disease can affect people of any age, sex, or race. It can affect people from any lifestyle, especially those who have unhealthy habits.
Death rates in women with diabetes have not improved. These findings shed light on how diabetes affects women and men differently. The reasons are as follows:
- Women often receive less aggressive treatment, for cardiovascular risk factors, and conditions linked to diabetes.
- Hormones and inflammation work differently in females.
- Diabetes complications in women are more difficult to diagnose.
- Women have a different kind of heart disease than men.
What are Common Causes of Diabetes?
About 95% of people with diabetes have type 2 diabetes. Only about 5% of people with diabetes get type 1 diabetes, which usually appears in childhood, or early adulthood.
People with type 2 diabetes often develop the disease as they reach middle age, with rising rates of obesity, even younger people may be diagnosed with the disease. While there may be a family history of type 2 diabetes, many people develop diabetes as a result of being overweight or obese, not exercising enough, and health problems such as high blood pressure.
You get your blood sugar from food. For this energy to fuel your cells, you need a hormone made in the pancreas, called insulin, while a second hormone, glucagon, works with insulin to control blood glucose levels.
Types of Diabetes
Type 1, called juvenile diabetes, is an autoimmune condition in which the body does not produce insulin, because the immune system attacks the insulin-producing pancreatic cells called beta cells. (webmd.com)
Type 2 diabetes is, a condition in which the body's cells are unable to use blood sugar efficiently, for energy. This happens when blood sugar becomes too high over time, and cells become insensitive to insulin.
Prediabetes is a condition that usually precedes type 2 diabetes. Prediabetes is when your blood sugar is higher than average, but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Prediabetes does not have any symptoms, so there may be no warning signs.
If you don't change your lifestyle and diet, prediabetes can turn into type 2 diabetes within a few years.
Diabetes Mellitus Symptoms in Women
Many of the symptoms of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in women are the same as in men; However, there are some symptoms and complications of diabetes that are unique to women, itchy vaginal pain, and vaginal yeast infections.
An overgrowth of the fungus Candida albicans can lead to a vaginal yeast infection.
Symptoms of vaginal yeast infections include:
1. Vaginal itching and pain
2. whiteness
3. Painful sexual intercourse.
4. Symptoms of thrush include:
- White patches in the mouth
- Swollen red gums or the inside of the cheeks.
- Redness and pain
- Trouble eating or swallowing
Decreased libido: Women with diabetes may experience low libido, problems with blood flow to the genital area, decreased sexual response and orgasm, and nerve damage, which can cause vaginal dryness and decreased sensation.
Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) is a common cause of insulin resistance and female infertility. This can lead to signs and symptoms such as acne, irregular periods, thinning of the scalp hair, and excess hair growth on the face and body.
High insulin levels also increase diabetes risk, and about half of women with PCOS develop diabetes.
A urinary tract infection occurs when bacteria get into any area of the urinary tract, including the urethra, kidneys, ureters, and bladder.
It Takes Time to Adjust to Diabetes.
If you've been diagnosed with diabetes, you'll need time to adjust. After all, it takes lots of finger pricks, blood tests, injections, and self-monitoring to reach and maintain normal blood sugar levels. And of course, it takes patience to normalize your blood sugar
There are many factors that affect your blood glucose levels, including what you eat, how much you exercise, what time you take your medication or insulin, stress and disease.
It is important to learn to manage them, but remember to take them step by step. From making minor adjustments to food choices, to physical activity.
Diabetes: Who is At Risk?
If you are obese or overweight, and you don't exercise regularly, you are at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
The storage of fat in the body leads to a low level of inflammation. The more fat that a person stores in the body, the higher the level of chronic inflammation.
This inflammation has a negative impact on the human body, giving rise to various metabolic diseases such as diabetes.
Extra fat around the belly is especially important as it is linked to insulin resistance, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes.
Diabetes Emotional Effects
It is normal for people with diabetes to feel angry, anxious, or depressed. Testing your blood glucose several times a day, monitoring what you eat, and giving you insulin shots, or taking medication every day, can be stressful.
If you see hopelessness in someone who has diabetes, remember that it's a natural emotion that can become a barrier to good self-care.
It is important to remember that diabetes is a progressive condition. It changes with time. Even if you did everything perfectly, it could change, or require medication adjustments.
Diabetes Impact on Humans
A large number of the side effects of diabetes are common in women and men, but some are specific to women.
Women with diabetes are more likely to experience yeast infections, or thrush in the mouth and vagina.
High blood sugar levels create an ideal breeding ground for Candida yeast.
Libido
Diabetes can decrease your libido, and your ability to enjoy it. For some women, vaginal dryness can make sex uncomfortable or painful. Causes can include nerve damage, reduced blood flow, drugs, and hormonal changes, including during pregnancy or menopause.
Be sure to talk to your doctor if you have any sexual concerns. The specialist will tell you several options for solutions, from using vaginal lubricants, to doing exercises that can increase sexual response.
Menstrual Cycle
Changes in hormone levels before and during menstruation can make your blood sugar levels unpredictable. You may also have longer or heavier periods, and food cravings can make diabetes management more difficult.
You may see patterns from time to time, or you may experience them at different periods.
Check your blood sugar as often as possible, and monitor the results for any patterns.
You may need to take more insulin in the days prior to your period. Talk to your doctor to change your dose, if necessary. Being active each day, eating the right amount of healthy food, and getting enough sleep can also help.
Yeast and Urinary Tract Infections
Women may get a vaginal yeast infection at some point, but women with diabetes are at a higher risk, particularly if their blood sugar levels are high.
Over 50% of women will get a urinary tract infection, or UTI in their lifetime, and the risk may be higher if the woman has diabetes. Causes include high blood sugar levels, and poor circulation, which reduces your body's ability to fight off infections.
Some women have bladders that don't always empty because of diabetes, creating the perfect environment for bacteria to grow.
To prevent yeast infections, and urinary tract infections, keep your blood sugar levels as close as possible to your normal target range. Another way to prevent urinary tract infections is to drink plenty of water, wear cotton underwear, and urinate frequently rather than waiting for your bladder to fill up.
Birth Control
Use birth control if you don't want to get pregnant, or if you want to wait until your blood sugar is within your normal target range.
This is because high blood sugar levels can cause problems during pregnancy, both for you and your baby.
There are many types of birth control methods, including the intrauterine device or IUD, the pill, injections, patches, vaginal rings, implants, and barrier methods such as condoms and diaphragms.
Choosing the right option for you will depend on whether you have any other medical conditions, the medications you take, and other factors.
Talk to your doctor about all external icons and the risks of your birth control options. Continue to check your blood sugar, track the results, and let your doctor know if your blood sugar level is elevated.
Pregnancy
If you know you are looking to get pregnant, planning ahead is essential. Diabetes can make it difficult for a woman to conceive, and high blood sugar can increase your risk for:
- Preeclampsia (high blood pressure)
- Miscarriage or stillbirth
- Delivery by caesarean section (C-section)
The baby's organs form during the first 2 months of pregnancy, and high blood sugar during that time can cause birth defects.
Can Diabetes Be Cured Permanently?
Responding to the increasing health burden of diabetes mellitus, the diabetes community has three options: preventing diabetes; treating diabetes and better care for diabetics, to prevent devastating complications. All three approaches are actively employed by the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Bottom Line
Some types of diabetes (such as type 1) are triggered by factors beyond your control. Others (like type 2 diabetes) can be prevented with better food choices, exercise, and weight loss.
Weight loss following bariatric surgery is often accompanied by normalization of blood glucose levels.
This suggests that there is an independent hormonal role for the operation. This means that weight loss alone is not the reason why diabetes control is necessary according to procedures.
Women with diabetes should be more controlling. Keep checking your blood sugar frequently, eat a healthy diet and be more active to stay healthy.