Diabetes: Symptoms of Different Types of Disease

The disease caused by absolute or partial insufficiency in the body of the hormone insulin is familiar to many. This is diabetes mellitus, the symptoms of which are mainly associated with a violation of the general metabolism and a violation of carbohydrate metabolism with glucose and hyperglycemia. Autoimmune and vascular diseases, viral infections, obesity, genetic predisposition, severe physical and mental injuries are recognized as risk factors for diabetes.  

Classification of the disease. Risk factors

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is usually classified into separate types, each of which is characterized by its own symptoms . It:   

– insulin-dependent (type 1) diabetes;

– non-insulin-dependent (type 2) diabetes, usually found in overweight people over the age of 40 years;

– symptomatic or secondary diabetes;

– diabetes caused by malnutrition;

– Pregnant diabetes, developing against the background of hormonal changes in the body of a woman in this period.

An insulin-dependent type of diabetes develops rapidly, sometimes absolutely suddenly. Moreover, most often it occurs either in children or in youth. Non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus , the symptoms of which are always moderate, on the contrary, progresses gradually.   

The main reason for the development of type 1 diabetes is called by autoimmune disorders, the result of which is the production of antibodies that destroy pancreatic cells. Risk factors in this case are “childhood” viral infections, such as chickenpox, rubella, mumps, “jaundice”, etc. The likelihood of diabetes increases with a person’s genetic predisposition to this disease.

The causes of type 2 diabetes are mainly recognized as obesity, the systematic intake of dietary supplements, which contain selenium, as well as poor heredity.

The factors that trigger symptomatic diabetes are diverse. Various are attributed to them: pancreatic pathology (resection, pancreatitis, tumor, etc.); hormonal diseases (acromegaly, pheochromocytoma, Itsenko-Cushing’s syndrome); some genetic syndromes; harmful effects on the body of certain medicinal or chemical substances.

Symptoms

Type 1 diabetes is caused by impaired pancreatic function and is characterized by absolute insulin deficiency. Type 2 diabetes (the most common form of the disease) has a relative insulin deficiency.

The clinical symptoms for diabetes of any type are:

Intense thirst, which is difficult to quench.

Dry mouth

· Frequent urination, independent of the time of day.

Increased appetite.

·Drowsiness.

· Itchy skin, peeling of the skin.

· Unmotivated weakness (muscle and general).

·Fast fatiguability.

· Long healing of wounds.

In addition, patients with type 1 diabetes can lose weight dramatically, despite their excellent appetite and good nutrition. At the same time , the opposite picture is observed in patients with type 2 diabetes – they are rapidly gaining weight, up to severe obesity.

Symptoms of type 1 diabetes are also a sharp, unreasonable deterioration in well-being, nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, bad breath of acetone from the mouth. Such manifestations of the disease are caused by the accumulation of toxic substances in the patient’s blood – ketone bodies.

In the absence of emergency measures to remove the patient from this condition, the diabetic can lose consciousness, then fall into a diabetic coma and die soon. A coma in a patient with type 1 diabetes mellitus can also occur due to a sharp decrease in blood glucose levels (hypoglycemic coma) or with an overdose of insulin therapy.