Contents:
- Medical Video: Symptoms and Complications of Diabetes | Nucleus Health
- What is labile diabetes?
- What are the trigger factors?
- Symptoms that may be felt
- How to treat it?
- How to prevent?
- Conclusion
Medical Video: Symptoms and Complications of Diabetes | Nucleus Health
"Brittle diabetes" is often known as brittle diabetes or labile diabetes. This is a type of diabetes that is quite severe. This condition is characterized by ups and downs of blood sugar levels. What are the things that need to be known about the complications of this diabetes?
What is labile diabetes?
Unstable diabetes occurs when your blood sugar rises and falls. This change in blood sugar can affect your quality of life and can even make you hospitalized.
Thanks to advances in the treatment of diabetes, this unstable condition of diabetes has rarely occurred. However, labile diabetes is still a frightening specter for diabetics. This condition also shows that your blood sugar level has not been handled properly. The best way to prevent labile diabetes is to follow the medication recommendations and lifestyle your doctor gives.
What are the trigger factors?
This fragile or labile diabetes usually only occurs in sufferers type 1 diabetes. But that does not mean all type 1 diabetics will experience this complication, and that does not mean also type 2 diabetics will not experience it. Some doctors classify labile diabetes as one of the complications of diabetes, but other doctors consider this to be a derivative of type 1 diabetes.
This fragile diabetes can cause your blood sugar to rise and fall in a fast time. If type 1 diabetes is characterized by high blood sugar (hyperglycemia), your body may become more sensitive to insulin and cause glucose to fall. The result is low blood sugar (hypoglycemia). These glucose fluctuations can occur quickly and cannot be predicted, causing discomfort.
You may have a high risk for this fragile diabetes if you:
- women
- has a hormonal imbalance
- overweight
- have hypothyroidism (low thyroid)
- in their 20s or 30s
- experience high levels of stress everyday
- experiencing depression
Symptoms that may be felt
The condition of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia is a common sign for labile diabetes due to fluctuations in blood sugar. Very low blood sugar can cause:
- dizzy
- weak
- easy to get angry
- incredible hunger
- trembling hands
- double vision
- severe headache
- hard to sleep
Symptoms of high blood glucose in this condition usually include:
- weakness
- frequent thirst and frequent urination
- changes in vision
- dry skin
People with diabetes experience these symptoms when blood sugar levels are not normal. The difference is, in fragile diabetes, the symptoms of high and low blood sugar often appear suddenly and alternately.
How to treat it?
Balancing blood sugar is the main treatment for this condition. Since glucose rises and falls, you may not be able to respond to insulin as it should. The subcutaneous insulin pump is the most effective tool for controlling labile diabetes. But still you need to monitor blood sugar regularly to ensure the level is not too high.
Some people with labile diabetes still experience blood sugar fluctuations even though they have been treated. In more serious cases, pancreatic transplantation may be needed. However, this is a rare case because labile diabetes usually responds positively after treatment.
How to prevent?
The progress of type 1 diabetes treatment has succeeded in reducing cases of labile diabetes. Although this condition is not too common anymore, you still need to take precautionary measures, especially if you have risk factors. Your doctor may advise you to:
- maintain ideal body weight
- see a therapist to manage your stress
- learn general knowledge about diabetes
- meet endocrinologists who specialize in diabetes and hormonal imbalances
Conclusion
Fragile diabetes is a rare complication of diabetes. However, you must be aware of the causes and symptoms. Controlling and managing blood sugar is the best way to prevent all complications of diabetes, including labile diabetes.
Fragile diabetes itself is not fatal. However, a drastic change in blood sugar can make you hospitalized because of the possibility of diabetic coma. Over time, this condition can lead to other complications such as:
- thyroid disease
- adrenal gland problems
- depression
- gain weight
