We all see the television advertisements for treatment of type II diabetes. Typically the individual that they are talking to or about is a middle-aged person who is overweight. This person is the poster child for this disease. Fortunately, even a few pounds of weight loss may be enough to control the blood sugar.

So, what is the big deal? Diabetes or hyperglycemia or elevated blood sugar or glucose is deadly to the body over the longer term. Short term it does not cause significant symptoms, but over the years this silent killer does its work. The major side effects of elevated blood glucose are its effect on two types of tissue:

1. Nerves
2. Blood vessels

The nerves lose their insulation with protracted elevated blood glucose. The outcome is peripheral neuropathy. It feels like pins and needles, loss of sensation or burning in the feet and ankles. If the pain were not enough, neuropathy also lessens the sensation making it difficult to feel the injury to the feet and lower legs. Injury occurs, and one does not even know it.

Second, elevated blood glucose or sugar increases the pace of hardening of the arteries or arteriosclerosis. The circulation system is like a tree with smaller and smaller branches or blood vessels. When the tiny blood vessels in the heart, the brain, and the kidneys are occluded, organ failure follows. The diseases are heart attacks, heart failure, kidney failure, and strokes.

These are permanent conditions. They cannot be reversed. Therapy or medications may decrease the symptoms, but the disease process has already caused its damage and that it forever.

Check in with your healthcare provider and ask to have lab studies done to check your blood glucose status. The most common test is a HA1C. Your healthcare provider can explain both the test and the results to you for action. You are in control or your life and what better way than managing your blood glucose for a longer life with greater quality.