No matter how old the body is, diabetes can occur at any age. Instead of before, the number of patients diagnosed was mainly in middle age, now, the number of young people with the disease is increasingly more common. You should pay attention to the symptoms of diabetes in young people for timely examination. Let’s find out now!
What type of diabetes are young people susceptible to?
In the body there is a hormone produced by the pancreas called insulin . This hormone will take on the task of bringing glucose from the blood into cells to convert into energy. Diabetes is a disease that occurs when the body cannot use glucose (provided from food) for energy. As a result, glucose stays in the blood, causing blood sugar levels to increase.
As follows:
- Type 1 diabetes: The pancreas does not produce enough insulin for the body’s needs. This is an autoimmune disease. The immune system is disturbed and mistakenly attacks the pancreas, causing damage to insulin-producing cells. This disease mostly begins in children and young adults.
- Type 2 diabetes: Insulin does not work effectively and cannot bring glucose into cells. At first, the pancreas will work harder to produce more insulin to compensate. Over time, it will also weaken and lose its ability to produce insulin. The disease is more common in middle age. However, today, more and more young people and even children are suffering from type 2 diabetes. It is not clear what causes type 2 diabetes in children and young adults, but there are a number of factors that can contribute. can increase the risk of disease.
- Gestational diabetes: This condition occurs during pregnancy because the hormones the body produces during pregnancy reduce the effectiveness of insulin.
What are the symptoms of diabetes in young people?
Common symptoms
Symptoms of diabetes in young people in both type 1 and type 2 include:
- Urinating more than usual as the body tries to remove excess sugar in the blood through urine
- Thirst a lot and drink a lot to compensate for the body’s dehydration due to frequent urination
- Eat a lot because the body always sends signals that it cannot get energy from sugar
- Extreme fatigue due to lack of energy
- Weight changes. Often people with type 1 diabetes lose weight for unknown reasons, while most people with type 2 diabetes gradually gain weight over time.
- There are wounds that take a long time to heal
- Itchy skin or frequent skin infections
- Blurred vision
- There are dark areas of skin, most commonly around the neck, armpits, and groin
These diabetes symptoms in young people can occur at any age. However, no two people are the same. You may experience signs that are different from others or not on the list above. However, the 4 most common signs of diabetes in young people are still excessive thirst, frequent urination, fatigue and weight loss .
Characteristics of each type of disease
However, the symptoms of each type have unique characteristics such as:
- Type 1: Symptoms of diabetes in children and young people appear suddenly and dramatically from the beginning. Symptoms progress rapidly over just a few weeks or months. Patients may experience additional nausea, vomiting or stomach pain.
- Type 2: In the early stages when blood sugar first increases, the patient does not have any signs at all, or the signs of the disease are faint and progress slowly over a long period of time. Most of the time, when the above symptoms of diabetes appear in young people, they have had the disease for many years.
- Pregnancy: There are almost no symptoms and are only detected when testing for gestational diabetes at 24-28 weeks of pregnancy.
When do you need to see a doctor?
You should see a doctor:
- Regular health check-ups, including blood sugar checks, twice a year
- When there are symptoms of diabetes in young people mentioned above
- Concerns about the risk of type 2 diabetes include having someone in the family who has the disease, is sedentary, is on a diet, is obese or overweight (especially with a large waist circumference), and has high blood pressure.
Early diagnosis and treatment will help reduce the risk of serious complications .
How do I know if I have symptoms of juvenile diabetes?
Diabetes is diagnosed with a blood test to check glucose levels. Types of indicators may include:
- Fasting blood sugar index : Blood sugar is measured early in the morning, after fasting (only drinking water) for 8 hours.
- Oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT): You drink a glucose solution, your blood sugar will be measured after 1-2 hours.
- HbA1c test : Measures average blood sugar over the past 2-3 months.
Preventing diabetes symptoms in young people
Unfortunately, to date there is no way to prevent type 1 diabetes, but you can delay or prevent type 2 diabetes from developing. Build the following healthy habits:
- Eat healthy, with:
- Lots of vitamins and fiber from fresh fruits and vegetables
- Lean protein sources come from fish, lean meat, skinless poultry, and beans
- Good fats from vegetable oils and nuts
- Limit animal fats and processed foods
- Reduce sugar and salt
- Maintain a healthy weight, lose weight if you are overweight or obese
- Get regular physical activity.
