Diabetes is a chronic condition that affects the body’s ability to produce or respond to insulin, resulting in high blood sugar levels. Early symptoms can be so subtle that they’re often ignored. If left undiagnosed and untreated, diabetes can reduce both your quality of life and life expectancy. Early detection is crucial.
Here are the most common early signs of diabetes to help you recognize the condition before it progresses.
1. Itchy Skin
When excess sugar is excreted in urine, it draws fluids from other tissues — including your skin. This can lead to dryness, irritation, and persistent itching. Scratching can result in skin damage or even infections. Additionally, people with diabetes are more prone to fungal infections, another potential cause of itchy skin.
2. Dark Spots on the Skin
Acanthosis nigricans is a skin condition marked by dark, velvety patches, typically found on the neck, armpits, groin, elbows, and joints of the fingers. Though it can occur in healthy individuals, it’s often linked to insulin resistance and can be an early sign of prediabetes or diabetes.
3. Increased Appetite
Unusual, persistent hunger (polyphagia) is one of the three hallmark symptoms of diabetes. When your body can’t use insulin properly, it can’t convert food into energy. This causes you to feel hungry even after eating. If you’re eating more than usual but still feel unsatisfied, consult a doctor.
4. Tingling in the Hands or Feet
Numbness, tingling, or pain in the hands, feet, fingers, or toes may be a sign of nerve damage (diabetic neuropathy). High blood sugar affects circulation and damages nerves, especially in extremities.
5. Increased Thirst and Urination
Excess sugar in the blood forces the kidneys to work harder to filter and excrete it, pulling more fluid from the body and leading to dehydration. This results in:
Constant thirst (polydipsia)
Frequent urination (polyuria)
Urinating 4–10 times a day is typical, but sudden changes in frequency should not be ignored.
6. Fatigue
Diabetes can leave you feeling tired all the time due to:
Lack of usable glucose in the cells for energy
Dehydration from frequent urination
While fatigue can be caused by many things (poor diet, lack of sleep, stress), persistent tiredness combined with other symptoms could point to diabetes.
7. Blurred Vision
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Diabetes is a chronic condition that affects the body’s ability to produce or respond to insulin, resulting in high blood sugar levels. Early symptoms can be so subtle that they’re often ignored. If left undiagnosed and untreated, diabetes can reduce both your quality of life and life expectancy. Early detection is crucial.
Here are the most common early signs of diabetes to help you recognize the condition before it progresses.
1. Itchy Skin
When excess sugar is excreted in urine, it draws fluids from other tissues — including your skin. This can lead to dryness, irritation, and persistent itching. Scratching can result in skin damage or even infections. Additionally, people with diabetes are more prone to fungal infections, another potential cause of itchy skin.
2. Dark Spots on the Skin
Acanthosis nigricans is a skin condition marked by dark, velvety patches, typically found on the neck, armpits, groin, elbows, and joints of the fingers. Though it can occur in healthy individuals, it’s often linked to insulin resistance and can be an early sign of prediabetes or diabetes.
3. Increased Appetite
Unusual, persistent hunger (polyphagia) is one of the three hallmark symptoms of diabetes. When your body can’t use insulin properly, it can’t convert food into energy. This causes you to feel hungry even after eating. If you’re eating more than usual but still feel unsatisfied, consult a doctor.
4. Tingling in the Hands or Feet
Numbness, tingling, or pain in the hands, feet, fingers, or toes may be a sign of nerve damage (diabetic neuropathy). High blood sugar affects circulation and damages nerves, especially in extremities.
5. Increased Thirst and Urination
Excess sugar in the blood forces the kidneys to work harder to filter and excrete it, pulling more fluid from the body and leading to dehydration. This results in:
Constant thirst (polydipsia)
Frequent urination (polyuria)
Urinating 4–10 times a day is typical, but sudden changes in frequency should not be ignored.
6. Fatigue
Diabetes can leave you feeling tired all the time due to:
Lack of usable glucose in the cells for energy
Dehydration from frequent urination
While fatigue can be caused by many things (poor diet, lack of sleep, stress), persistent tiredness combined with other symptoms could point to diabetes.
7. Blurred Vision
SEE NEXT PAGE
When excess sugar is excreted in urine, it draws fluids from other tissues — including your skin. This can lead to dryness, irritation, and persistent itching. Scratching can result in skin damage or even infections. Additionally, people with diabetes are more prone to fungal infections, another potential cause of itchy skin.
Acanthosis nigricans is a skin condition marked by dark, velvety patches, typically found on the neck, armpits, groin, elbows, and joints of the fingers. Though it can occur in healthy individuals, it’s often linked to insulin resistance and can be an early sign of prediabetes or diabetes.
Unusual, persistent hunger (polyphagia) is one of the three hallmark symptoms of diabetes. When your body can’t use insulin properly, it can’t convert food into energy. This causes you to feel hungry even after eating. If you’re eating more than usual but still feel unsatisfied, consult a doctor.
Numbness, tingling, or pain in the hands, feet, fingers, or toes may be a sign of nerve damage (diabetic neuropathy). High blood sugar affects circulation and damages nerves, especially in extremities.
Excess sugar in the blood forces the kidneys to work harder to filter and excrete it, pulling more fluid from the body and leading to dehydration. This results in:
Diabetes can leave you feeling tired all the time due to:
