5 Terrifying Signs of Diabetes You Probably Don't Know About
Diabetes can hurt everything from your eyes to your erection. But you can control it
There’s good reason to want to keep your blood sugar under control: diabetes, a condition that can result from extremely high blood sugar, can cause some serious, far-reaching bodily consequences, such as kidney disease, heart disease, or cancer.
But the complications of diabetes — which is considered fasting blood sugar levels of 126 milligrams per deciliter (mg dL) or higher, or a A1C of 6.5 percent or higher — aren’t always easy to spot.
“Unlike other diseases that cause clear symptoms — like a broken leg — that lead to immediate attention, diabetes is in many respects a silent disease,” explains Nestoras Mathioudakis, M.D., clinical director of endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism at Johns Hopkins Medicine.
That's why you need to make it your business to learn the symptoms of diabetes — especially the ones that you haven't heard of, like excessive thirst or the frequent need to urinate. Here's what you need to know.
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