In recent years, the incidence of diabetes in China is increasing year by year. Most diabetic patients find out they have diabetes inadvertently when they go to the hospital for physical examination or treatment of other diseases, and treatment is often delayed. So, how can you know you have diabetes as early as possible?
Change in diet
You notice that you are eating more than before, but you don’t feel full and you want to eat more. At the same time, your body is losing weight and you feel tired and weak all over. You drink more water, but you still have trouble quenching your thirst, and you urinate more because you drink more water.
Redness of the face
Typical diabetic patients do not have abnormal color change before and after the onset of the disease. However, in a survey of 1,000 cases of insidious diabetes, it was found that the majority of patients had a reddish face, with 89.5% of patients showing varying degrees of redness.
Blistering rash on the hands and feet
In patients with occult diabetes mellitus, blistering rash on the hands and feet, as well as on the toes and extensor surfaces of the lower legs, often appears suddenly without any causative factor, and is characterized by a painless and non-itchy appearance.
Brown spots on the front of the tibia
This condition is usually seen in patients with mild diabetes and is mainly characterized by the appearance of oval brown spots on the skin of the front of the lower leg, accompanied by mild depressed atrophy. Diabetic neuropathy may be present in about 10% of cases.
Dorsal hand and foot granuloma
Itching of the skin and vulva without skin lesions, early diabetic patients often have light red, nail-sized, hard, ring-shaped granulomas on the back of the hands and feet.
Itchy skin
About 10% of early diabetic patients can have generalized or restricted pruritus. It is more persistent and is most severe in the vulva or anus area.
Rhabdomyolysis
About 2/3 of patients with latent diabetes may present with unexplained tongue pain, a rhombic papillary defect in the center of the dorsum of the tongue (i.e., no tongue covering the dorsum of the tongue), etc.
Pain in the extremities
Frequent pain in the joints of the lower extremities and feet, while excluding osteophytes, rheumatism and rheumatoid diseases. Numbness and pins-and-needles pain in the upper and lower extremities, sometimes accompanied by a burning sensation.
Intermittent claudication
Frequent pain in the lower limbs and toe pain after walking, which can only be relieved by resting for a while, a phenomenon called “intermittent claudication” in medical science.
Some of these factors are symptoms of diabetes itself, while others are manifestations of other complications. If you have any of these changes, you should seek early medical attention to check your blood sugar and urine sugar. In addition, patients with high blood pressure and coronary heart disease are also at high risk for developing diabetes.