Short & long term consequences

Hyperglycaemia is when your blood glucose levels are too high. This is above 7 mmol/L before a meal and above 8.5 mmol/L two hours after a meal.

Signs and symptoms:

• More thirsty than usual
• Going to the toilet to urinate more often
• Feeling tired
• Lethargy
• Blurred vision
• Headaches

Hypoglycaemia is when blood glucose levels are too low, usually below 4 mmol/L.

Signs and symptoms:

• Feeling shaky and disorientated
• Anxiousness
• Headache
• Hunger
• Lack of concentration
• Blurred vision
• Loss of consciousness
• Aggression
• Coma
• Long term consequences of diabetes

When blood sugar levels are too high for too long, the body can be damaged.

This damage can be separated into macrovascular complications (coronary artery disease, peripheral arterial disease, and stroke) and microvascular complications (diabetic nephropathy, neuropathy, and retinopathy).

Micro means smaller vessels.

• Eye - high blood pressure and glucose can damage eye vessels, causing retinopathy and glaucoma.
• Kidney - high blood pressure damages small blood vessels, and excess glucose overworks the kidneys causing nephropathy.
• Neuropathy - high blood sugar causes damage to nerves. This can result in pain, tingling or numbness. Feet wounds may go undetected, get infected, and lead to gangrene.

Macro means larger vessels.

• Brain - increases the risk of stroke
• Heart - high blood pressure and insulin resistance can cause heart disease.
• Limbs - narrowing of blood vessels can reduce blood flow to the legs and cause slow healing of wounds.