Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic condition where there is excess glucose in the blood due to a defect in secretion or action of insulin, and the body is unable to utilize the glucose. Coming to question what are symptoms of diabetes:
- As there is excess glucose in the blood, it gets filtered through urine, it drags water with it, so there will be excessive urination and excess thirst.
- As glucose from the blood cannot enter the cells – due to either a lack of insulin or insulin resistance, appetite occurs.
These three P's of diabetes are classic symptoms :
- Increased urination (Polyuria)
- Increased thirst (Polydipsia)
- The increased appetite (Polyphagia)
Other symptoms are easy fatigue, unexplained tiredness, blurring of vision due to change in the size of the eye lens. There can be tingling and numbness in the feet and hands. There can be a delay in wound healing. the wounds would take a long time to heal Some fungal infections like ringworm, urinary tract infection, or itchy foul-smelling white discharge (a sign of Candida infection) can be presenting symptoms. But most of the times these symptoms occur at high levels of blood glucose.
In the early stages, diabetes can be diagnosed only by testing. There may not be any symptoms. In some cases, the diagnosis of diabetes is incidental.