The problem with diabetes is that it does not give any serious pains or symptoms at the first few years after someone is diagnosed with the illness. High blood sugar level is the only benchmark to indicate the level of diabetes someone is experiencing. Hyperglycemia alone cannot cause death to a person, but it is the long term exposure to high blood sugar concentration that damages the organs inside the body which will eventually surface as diabetes related health complications.

Imagine there are two tubes available. Tube A is passed with water with mild mixture of sugar and Tube B is passed with syrup of high sugar concentration. Liquid in Tube A is flown at fast speed while syrup in Tube B is flown at low speed (almost all diabetes patients have slow flowing blood). After a few days of continuously circling the liquid in the tubes, stop the cycle and drain away the liquids. Cut a section of the tubes respectively and observe the inner walls of the tubes, you will notice there is a layer of harden sugar on Tube B while the wall Tube A is clean.

Tube B is the exact condition happens to a diabetes patient’s blood capillaries over a long period of time. When the inner wall of the capillaries is covered by a layer of glucose, it is very hard or impossible for the nutrient exchange to take place. Cells or tissues around that zone will not be able to receive nutrients and oxygen for metabolism and cannot dispose of the waste products of respiration. Slowly, those cells will start to die off and as the tissues break down, the organs will start to fail.

The parts of the body that are easily affected by the poor blood circulation are the heart, kidneys, eyes, and brain. This is because the blood vessels in these organs are very fine and complex (with a lot of curves and twists) and all those corners are spots where the blood flow slows down which makes it much easier for the glucose to stick and deposit on the wall of the capillaries.

Over time, the blood supply to these areas will be blocked and lack of adequate oxygen and nutrients supply to cells within these organs will eventually lead to heart attacks, kidney failure, vision loss, and stroke. All of these diabetic health complications are fatal and they can visit anytime without prior warning.

Before your diabetes condition reaches the “Death Zone”, you should experience some warning signs. The warning signs I am talking about is in the feet and eyes. The common one is the Diabetic Feet. It is easy for the blood to flow down to the feet (with the help of gravity force and pump pressure from the heart) but it is very hard for the blood to climb back up. This poor blood circulation will increase the probability capillary blockage. This will result in the numbness and tingling feeling on the feet. If there is any open wound in the diabetic feet, it is very hard for the wound to heal and that will open the door to further infection which might end up with amputation!

Another warning sign is the blur vision or cataracts. Blood sugar abnormalities will thicken the wall of the fine blood vessels in the eye retina and over time. As the condition become worse, these blood vessels will swell and causes leak of fluid and blood into the retina. Many people with diabetes notice that their vision becomes blurry when their blood sugar increases. This is because the sugar in the blood is diffused into the lens of the eye which causes swelling and that will change the focal point of the eye. If the leaking or eye hemorrhage is not treated properly, it may result in permanent loss of vision.

The very pathetic part of diabetes is that it takes away the quality of your life long before it ends your life in a miserable way. It is self torture! Prevent it, while you still can.