How does diabetes affect the body?
If the blood sugar (glucose) is not controlled, it can lead to a number of complications: • Eye problems • Heart disease • Stroke • Kidney failure • Nerve damage • Loss of limbs • Tooth and gum problems Diabetes injures the blood vessels that serve a number of key body organs. This can go on to damage your vision, your heart, your kidneys. It can delay or prevent tissues from healing. If wounds do not heal, it can lead to amputation. Blood vessel injury can lead to: • Heart attacks and heart failure • Stroke • Loss of vision, even blindness • Poor kidney function, even kidney failure • Poor wound healing, including minor injuries • Poor circulation • Amputation, usually of toes, feet or lower legs, can result from poor circulation and poor wound healing Poor circulation • Poor circulation prevents nutrients and oxygen from reaching the cells to help heal wounds and infections. • Cells without oxygen or nutrients die. • The affected area becomes numb or tingly or sometimes painful. • So
When you eat, your body breaks food down into glucose, a type of sugar that is your body’s main source of energy. As glucose from food is absorbed into your bloodstream, your blood sugar level (the amount of glucose in your blood) rises. Your pancreas and liver help control the amount of sugar in your bloodstream. When the amount of sugar in your bloodstream starts to rise, the pancreas responds by making insulin. Insulin is released into the bloodstream to help move the sugar into your cells where it is used for energy. Insulin acts like a key to allow the sugar to enter the cells of your body. Once inside the cells, most of the sugar is used for energy right away. Some of the extra sugar is stored in your liver to be used later. When your blood sugar drops, your liver responds by releasing the stored sugar into your bloodstream. When you have diabetes, your body still breaks down the foods you eat into sugar. Diabetes keeps this sugar from getting into your cells where it can be used
