Sign of Diabetes: The 12 Symptoms You Should Know

"Is frequent urination a sign of diabetes?" I asked Julie.

"Yes it is," She replied.

But frequent urination is not the only sign. There are many other signs of diabetes that you should watch out for.

It was 3pm when Julie finished the 12 symptoms of diabetes. Immediately I summarized them.

So here they are. The 12 sign of diabetes:

1) Recurring infection plus scratch/dry skin. This sign of diabetes is the outcome of the poor blood circulation and high blood glucose level.

2) Gum (periodontal) disease. Experiencing pain whenever chewing food is a sign of diabetes. For those with more serious gum problems, this may even lead to teeth loss.

To treat gum disease, diabetics must work on controlling the diabetic condition.

Gum disease is the result of too much glucose in the blood, which damages oral health.

3) Hair thinning or loss of hair. Because of the diabetic condition, lost hair are not replaced as readily as someone without the disease.

4) Tingling and numbness in hands and feet. This condition is known as neuropathy. Usually this condition surfaces only when the increasing sugar in blood has damaged the nervous system. This sign of diabetes usually surface at a later time.

5) Itches and sores around the genital area. Often, this can be misdiagnosed as Vaginal thrush, candidacies or yeast infection.  However, this sign of diabetes is due to too much sugar content in the urine.

To be on the safer side, for those previously diagnosed to have vaginal thrush, candidacies or yeast infection, my advice is to seek another medical opinion just to confirm."

6) Frequent urination. As the kidney cannot absorb the sugar (glucose), the only way to remove the high sugar content in blood is to purge them into the urine. Since the urine is carrier for these glucose, more is produced in order to cater for the increasing sugar content. And therefore diabetes find themselves visiting the toilet as high as once every 60 minutes. This is usually the 1st sign of diabetes.

7) Always thirsty. Even during cool season, and diabetics involving only in light activities, they tend to get thirsty easily despite drinking plenty of water. This is because of the large amount of fluid loss through urine so as to flush out the glucose.

Dehydration as a result of frequent urination causes diabetics to get thirsty often.

8) Dry mouth. This is one of the more obvious sign of diabetes. Again, this is closely linked to the loss of fluid - the direct result of frequent urination. Dehydration leading to insufficient saliva to moist the mouth.

9) Feel tired and weak all the time. No matter how much diabetics rest, they are also lethargic. They are always low in energy, because diabetics lose some of the glucose (energy) during urination.

10) Gain or lose weight unexpectedly. Unexpected weight loss could be due to dehydration - a direct consequence of frequent urination. Also it can be due to breakdown of muscle as a result of high glucose content. Either way, these are sign of diabetes.

While unexpected weight loss is not a good sign, so is weight gain. Resistance to insulin promotes fat storage, and this means that glucose cannot be absorbed by the body for use as energy.

11) Blur vision. Pre-diabetics tend to overlook this. Seldom do they suspect this as a sign of diabetes. This can be a serious problem as unclear vision untreated eyes problem (due to diabetes) can lead to blindness.

12) Slow healing cuts and bruises. Diabetics take longer to heal compare to non-diabetics. This is more obvious for wounds and cuts on the feet due to poorer circulation.

While these 12 sign of diabetes are what diabetics' experience, they are not exhaustive list of diabetes symptoms. Every individual is unique and may not experience these symptoms at all. My suggestion, as always, is to seek professional medical advice early if unwell. Doing so can avoid medical complication at the later stage.