Diabetic Complications :: Diabetes Self-Management

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Over time, high blood glucose can have harmful effects on the body, leading to complications such as neuropathy (nerve damage), nephropathy (kidneydisease), and retinopathy (eye disease). Read the articles below to learn about diabetes complications, from why they develop to how to prevent and treat them.

Avoiding Complications by Amy Tenderich, M.A.

Most people who are diagnosed with diabetes or prediabetes are told at some point about the long-term damage diabetes can do, such as causing heart attack and stroke, blindness, kidney disease, and limb amputations. Unfortunately, too few are also told…

Avoiding Eye Complications by A. Paul Chous, M.A., O.D.

When it comes to diabetes-related eye complications, the good news is that most cases of severe vision loss due to diabetes are preventable. The bad news is that tens of thousands of people still lose vision to diabetes each year, despite all that is…

Also inside: Eye Diseases Associated With Diabetes

Diabetic Peripheral Neuropathy by Laura Hieronymus, MSEd, APRN, BC-ADM, CDE, and James Borders, MD

Neuropathy is an abnormality anywhere in a nerve pathway that disrupts nerve signals, causing the brain to misinterpret feelings or sensations. Different types of neuropathy go by different names, depending on the number of nerves affected, their function, and where in the body they are located…

Also inside: Basic Foot Care

Keeping on Top of Neuropathy by Wayne Clark

Most people with diabetes aren’t fully aware of the dangers of diabetic nerve damage, or neuropathy, which include impotence, heart-rhythm abnormalities, and amputations. Neuropathy affects 90% of people who have had either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes for…

Also inside: Tips for Foot Care

Keeping Your Mouth Squeaky Clean by Shirley Gutkowski, RDH, BSDH

Periodontal (gum) disease has been called the sixth complication of diabetes (in addition to eye, kidney, nerve, foot, and cardiovascular complications) because so many people with diabetes have it. Having high blood glucose raises the risk of developing periodontal disease, and periodontal disease tends to raise blood glucose levels. So clearly, making an effort to brush, floss, and have regular dental checkups is important when you have diabetes…

Protecting Your Kidneys by Robert S. Dinsmoor

Diabetic nephropathy (kidney disease) is the leading cause of kidney failure in the United States. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the outlook for protecting your kidneys has gotten much brighter over the past decade or so. There are now a number of measures you can take that have been scientifically proven to protect your kidneys and lower the risk of developing diabetes-related kidney disease. Here’s what the research shows…

Also inside: Analgesics and Kidney Health

The Benefits of Tight Control by Wayne Clark

It has been 16 years since the results of the landmark Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) were published. Despite its continuing legacy of proof that maintaining blood glucose levels as close to normal as possible reduces the risk of…

The Pressure Is On by Craig G. Hurwitz, MD

If your doctor has told you that you have high blood pressure, or hypertension, you may well have groaned at the thought of more dietary restrictions and/or another pill to take. Or maybe you just tuned him out. After all, you have enough to do with caring for your diabetes, and how serious could high blood pressure be, anyway, since it has no symptoms?

In fact, high blood pressure is very serious. But paying attention to it now can save you a lot of grief down the road…

Treating Gastroparesis by Kathryn Feigenbaum, R.N., M.S.N., C.D.E.

Although the term gastroparesis may be new to some, the symptoms of this ailment, in which the stomach’s ability to move food into the small intestine is impaired, can be all too familiar, as up to 50% of people with diabetes will develop…

Also inside: Recipes for a Liquid Diet

When Your Legs Ache by Joyce Malaskovitz, PhD, RN, CDE, and Susan Rush Michael, DNSc, RN, CDE

Cramping, pain, or tiredness in the legs when walking or climbing stairs — these may not sound like symptoms of a serious condition. In fact, many people believe that they are normal signs of aging. But they can be signs of peripheral arterial disease, a severe condition that can lead to gangrene and amputation if left untreated. So if you have these symptoms, be sure to tell your doctor.

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1. Insulin
2. Blood Glucose Monitoring
3. High Blood Glucose
4. Nutrition & Meal Planning
5. Diabetic Complications