Home » Symptoms of diabetes mellitus Diabetes mellitus also simply called as diabetes is a syndrome which is characterized by irregular blood sugar and disordered metabolism. Diabetes led to either low hormone levels or abnormal resistance to the insulin’s effect provided with insufficient levels of insulin secretion. According to the world health organization there are three main types of diabetes including the type 1, type 2 and the third category is the gestational diabetes that occurs during pregnancy.

There are different signs and symptoms of diabetes mellitus. The traditional symptom is polyuria, polydipsia and polyphagia, which are, respectively, frequent urination; increased thirst and consequent increased fluid intake; and increased appetite.

Sometimes the symptoms also change or develop quite rapidly especially among the children. The symptoms of diabetes mellitus at times are also visible in the patients whose diabetes is not properly controlled. Another symptom is that when the concentration of glucose rises beyond the renal threshold, re-absorption of glucose in the proximal renal tubuli is partial, and part of the glucose remains in the urine glycosuria.

Diabetes mellitus also increase the osmotic pressure of the urine reduction by the re-absorption of water by the kidney which results in frequent urine production leading to increased fluid loss. The lost volume of blood is replaced from water held in the body cells and this causes dehydration and increased thirst. The high and prolonged blood glucose also causes glucose absorption which brings changes in the shape of the lenses of the eyes that causes change of vision. Complaint of blurred eyesight is a commonly reported symptom of diabetes mellitus. Hence it is required to regular diabetes diagnosis. The type 1 category of diabetes mellitus should always be suspected in the cases of rapid vision changes. The type 2 is generally more gradual, but should still be suspected.

One another symptom of diabetes mellitus is that the patients are also present with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) which is a severe state of metabolic dysregulation distinguished by the smell of acetone on the patient's breath. In this type of diabetes mellitus there is a rapid, deep breathing known as Kussmaul breathing, polyuria, nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain, and any of many altered states of consciousness or stimulation. The severe state of DKA is also sometimes followed with coma progressing towards death.

This state of diabetes is a severe condition which requires immediate medication or hospitalization. Another severe symptom of diabetes mellitus is the hyperosmolar nonketotic state, which is commonly traced in the type 2 diabetes category which mainly resulted because of dehydration due to loss of body water. Often, the patient has been drinking extreme amounts of sugar-containing drinks, leading to a major insufficient water loss.