Don't Let Diabetes Sneak Up on You: Learn These 6 Early Signs

Diabetes can manifest slowly and become worse over a matter of years. If you aren’t paying attention, it can cause damage to your health before you can even get a diagnosis. Having regular health checks and knowing the early warning signs of diabetes can help you prevent additional health issues.

At Lakepointe Direct Primary Care in Lewisville, Texas, Dr. Marcelo Brito helps patients identify and manage common health issues such as diabetes as part of his primary care services.

Types of diabetes

Around 1.4 million Americans are diagnosed with diabetes every year. Many people are familiar with Type 1 diabetes because it is common in children and is often diagnosed swiftly. With type 1 diabetes, your pancreas doesn’t make insulin, so you need insulin injections to survive.

However, there is a sneakier form of diabetes, known as Type 2. This type of diabetes can have several factors. Your pancreas can slow down insulin production, your cells can become resistant to insulin, or both can occur at the same time. 

In either case, you end up with high blood sugar after you eat, and these high levels can become chronic. This can happen so slowly that you don’t realize what’s going on. Meanwhile, high glucose levels can be contributing to health risks for heart disease, kidney damage, loss of eyesight, neuropathy, and more.

Six early signs of diabetes

Early symptoms of diabetes may go unnoticed unless you’re very self-aware and proactive about your health. If diabetes runs in your family, you are at a much higher risk of developing Type 2 yourself, so be on the watch for these symptoms:

1. Constant thirst and dry mouth
2. Frequent need for urination 
3. Extreme hunger even after a meal
4. Unusual fatigue and brain fog
5. Unexplained changes in weight (gain or loss)
6. Dry, itchy skin

If you’ve noticed one or more of these symptoms, you should seek medical help and request a blood glucose test, preferably a glycated hemoglobin (A1C) test. This is a simple test done with a few drops of blood and tells your doctor what your average blood glucose has been over the previous 90 days. It’s one of the best ways to diagnose diabetes.

If you do have diabetes or are pre-diabetic, Dr. Brito works with you to create a customized plan that can include a new diet and exercise regimen, oral medications to increase natural insulin production and decrease insulin resistance, and/or injected insulin. 

To learn more about diabetes treatment options, schedule an appointment at Lakepointe Direct Primary Care. To get in touch, call 972-573-7228 or book an appointment online.