In everyday life, the poor management of medical treatment, diet, physical activity and the occurrence of other illnesses can lead to lower or higher blood sugar levels. It follows disorders that engender diabetes complications that are often very serious and disabling.
Acute complications
There are three main acute complications of diabetes, resulting from a very rapid and sudden decrease or increase in blood sugar, all of which can cause coma and death:
- hypoglycemia, which can affect both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes, which occurs when blood sugar falls below 70 mg/dl. It is always due to an excessive effect of the treatment. It can occur as a result of inadequate insulin administration with food, overdose of some oral anti-diabetic medications. This risk is accentuated by a lack of adequate food intake due to various reasons: lack of information or patient errors, socio-economic or infectious causes.
- diabetic ketoacidosis, which almost exclusively affects Type 1 diabetics and occurs when the body can no longer use sugar as a fuel due to the total absence of insulin. It then uses other energy sources that degrade into toxic products for the body.
- non-ketosic hyperosmolar coma concerns only Type 2 diabetes, particularly in the elderly, occurring for a variety of reasons, including severe dehydration during infections or the taking of diuretics.
Chronic Complications
An improper balance of blood sugar over a long period of time gradually damages:
- small blood vessels: leading to chronic complications that can severely affect many organs including the retina (the back of the eyes responsible for eyesight) and the kidneys (organs that clean the blood to eliminate toxic products). Thus, diabetes can cause diabetic retinopathy, which are lesions of small vessels that irrigate the retina, resulting in a decrease in visual acuity that can lead to blindness. Diabetes is also one of the leading causes of chronic kidney failure that can lead to kidney destruction.
- nerves: one of the most common complications is diabetic neuropathy. The nerve fibers are affected and cause loss of sensations that mainly affect the legs and feet. Neuropathy associated with poor blood circulation in the legs promotes the development of ulcerations on the feet. If these "diabetic feet" are poorly cared for, patients face gangrene and amputation. Diabetes also promotes impotence in humans.
- large vessels: diabetes also affects large vessels and affects the heart, brain and lower limbs. When large arteries are affected, serious lesions appear in the cardiovascular system. People with diabetes have a much higher risk of developing atherosclerosis, that is, small patches of atheroma (cholesterol) on the lining of large arteries. The danger, ultimately, is that the artery clogs completely, causing myocardial infarction. Peripheral arteries (brain, lower limbs) are also affected, increasing the risk of stroke.
Various current studies show us that the presence of diabetes increases the risk of cardiovascular mortality by a factor of 2 to 3 for men and 3 to 5 for women.