Diabetes Information and Treatment Guide | Long-term Complications of Diabetes

Long-term Complications of Diabetes

05.30.2008 by Dr John Anne in Diabetes Information

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Diabetic complications can be classified broadly as microvascular or macrovascular disease. Microvascular complications include neuropathy (nerve damage), nephropathy (kidney disease) and vision disorders (eg retinopathy, glaucoma, cataract and corneal disease). Macrovascular complications include heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease (which can lead to ulcers, gangrene and amputation). Other complications of diabetes include infections, metabolic difficulties, impotence, autonomic neuropathy and pregnancy problems.Over time, high blood sugar levels can damage blood vessels. This can lead to health problems (complications). Keeping your blood sugar in your target ranges can help prevent or delay complications.

Long-term Complications of Diabetes Mellitus

Diabetic neuropathy

Diabetic neuropathy’ is the term used to describe changes in the nervous system resulting from diabetes mellitus. One type of diabetic neuropathy is described as a condition in which cats walk or stand with their hocks touching the ground. This condition may occur as one of the early signs of diabetes in the cat, or it can occur later in the stage of the disease, especially if the cat is poorly regulated. Other cats with diabetic neuropathy may appear to limp or simply to have hind limb weakness.

Long term complications of Diabetes: Heart Disease and Stroke

Heart or cardiovascular diseases are four times more prominent in people with diabetes. These problems include heart attack, stroke, chest pain or angina, high Blood Pressure, narrowing of arteries and poor blood circulation or peripheral vascular disease and hardening of arteries or arteriosclerosis.

Eye Disease - Long Term Complications: Diabetes

Diabetic retinopathy

This condition affects the blood vessels in the retina, the back layer of the eye where images are captured and recorded. The retina converts light energy into electrical impulses and sends visual images to the brain along the optic nerve. After 20 years, nearly all people with type 1 diabetes and 60% of those with type 2 diabetes have developed retinopathy. By that time, half of all people with type 1 diabetes and 10% of those with type 2 diabetes have the more serious, advanced form, known as proliferative retinopathy. However, tighter glucose control should substantially decrease these numbers in the future.

Long-Term Complications Type 1 Diabetes

Intensive control of blood glucose and keeping glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c) levels below 7%. This approach is proving to prevent complications due to vascular (blood vessel) abnormalities and nerve damage (neuropathy) that can cause major damage to organs, including the eyes, kidneys, and heart.

Major Types of Long-term Diabetes Complications

Gastroparesis: This is the result of damage to the vagus nerve. This nerve orchestrates the emptying of the stomach, and when it begins to fail, food either remains in the stomach for too long or gets emptied out too early. One result is that you can’t predict when your stomach will be digesting food, which can seriously hamper your ability to time some diabetes medicines and your blood glucose control. The best way to prevent permanent nerve damage is to have blood glucose levels as normal as possible as often as possible.