Secondary Complications

Foot Complications Including:

Foot Ulcer

Neuropathy- Diabetes lessens your ability to feel pain, heat, and cold. Loss of feeling decreases a person's ability to feel a foot injury such as a blister or sore on your foot. A person may not notice a foot injury until the skin breaks down and it becomes infected.

Skin changes- Diabetes causes changes in your feet, they may become very dry and start to peel and crack because the nerves that control the oil and moisture to your feel no longer work.

Foot ulcers- Diabetes often cause foot ulcers that frequently affect the ball of the foot or on the bottom of the big toe. These are often caused by poorly fitting shoes. Neglecting these ulcers can result in infections, which may eventually lead to a loss of a limb.

Poor circulation- Diabetes causes poor circulation which can decrease your foot's ability to fight infection and heal like normal. Diabetes causes blood vessels of the foot and leg to narrow and harden.

Eye Complications Including:

Glaucoma- People with diabetes are 40% more likely to suffer from glaucoma than people without diabetes. Glaucoma occurs when pressure builds up in the eye and the increased pressure pinches the blood vessels that carry blood to the retina and optic nerve until vision is gradually lost.

Retinopathy

Cataracts- People with diabetes are 60% more likely to develop cataracts. Diabetics tend to get cataracts at a younger age and the cataracts often progress faster. Cataracts cause the eye's clear lens to cloud which blocks light.

Retinopathy- Diabetic retinopathy is a term used for all disorders of the retina that are caused by diabetes. The most common form of retinopathy is nonproliferative retinopathy. This causes capillaries in the back of the eye to balloon and form pouches.

Hearing loss:

Diabetes and hearing loss are two of America's most widespread health concerns. Nearly 26 million people in the U.S. have diabetes, and an estimated 34.5 million have some type of hearing loss. Those are large groups of people, and it appears there is a lot of overlap between the two.

A recent study found that hearing loss is twice as common in people with diabetes as it is in those who don't have the disease. Also, of the 79 million adults in the U.S. who have prediabetes, the rate of hearing loss is 30 percent higher than in those with normal blood glucose.

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA):

Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) is a serious condition that can lead to diabetic coma (passing out for a long time) or even death.  When your cells don't get the glucose they need for energy, your body begins to burn fat for energy, which produces ketones. Ketones are acids that build up in the blood and appear in the urine when your body doesn't have enough insulin. They are a warning sign that your diabetes is out of control or that you are getting sick.

*** All information has come from the American Diabetes Association www.diabetes.org