So What Are The Signs?
Weight Loss
Blurred Vision
Excessive Thirst
Blurred vision
Itchy skin
Abdominal Pain
Frequent Urination, even at night
Excessive Hunger, change in appetite
Weight loss or gain
Tired and Grumpy
Confused at Times, Feeling Sickly
"Pins & Needles" in limbs
Skin infections slow to heal
Sweet-smelling breath
Symptoms noted will vary from person to person. Some notice no symptoms at all. If you suspect that you may have diabetes, see your doctor.
Some people are at higher risk for diabetes than others:
Overweight as an adult
related to a person with diabetes
over age 45
mother of a large baby (over 4 kg or 9 lb)
history of pancreatic disease or other condition predisposing to diabetes
stress related to emotional upset, accident, illness, pregnancy or surgery can sometimes trigger diabetes.
If you or someone you know, is showing these signs, please get to a medical doctor, no matter their age, the long term effects of untreated diabetes is life threatening.
At this time there is no cure for diabetes, but there is control. There have been many advances in the treatment & research is ongoing, but right now you have to look at it as a lifetime commitment.
~ A Little Known History ~
Diabetes was known to the physicians of India, Greece and other civilizations of ancient time. Chinese medical writings mentioned a condition of wasting with increased thirst and passing excessive quantities of urine. Aretaeus described the condition in about 70 A.D. giving it the name of Diabetes, a Greek word for "siphon" or "to run through". Paracelsus, in the 16th Century, noticed the increased crystalline content of the urine after boiling, but thought this was salt instead of sugar. Thomas Willis described the sweetness of urine some 100 years later, and Dobson found this to be sugar, thus establishing the name "Mellitus".
In 1889. two scientists, Minkowski and Von Mering, proved that diabetes was related to a defect in the pancreas. There were many attempts to extract from it a substance which would control the high blood glucose levels of diabetic patients. At that time diabetes was treated with starvation diets to lower the blood glucose. Those overweight often improved on taking less food and more exercise, but thin adults and children rarely survived long on any form of therapy.
In 1921, Doctor Frederick G. Banting and Charles H. Best in Toronto discovered an extract of pancreas which would regulate blood glucose levels. They carried their experiments on diabetic dogs through several initial staages to the testing of their extract on the first diabetic patients. Many others, including Professor JJR MacLeod and Professor JB collip helped to improve this extract which soon became known as Insulin.
Diabetes is still a common and world-wide condition of increasing importance. In Canada over 1 million people are known to have the condition, and there are probably half as many who have not yet been diagnosed.
Insulin is a veribable wonder-drug which has given renewed health, and life itself, to children and adults with severe diabetes all over the world
