IF you catch yourself feeling dizzy or faint when you stand up, you could be a risk of diabetes in the future, a new study suggests.
Dizziness can be triggered by neuropathy, a type of nerve damage that can occur if you have diabetes.
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Hungarian researchers estimated that people at risk of type 2 diabetes are up to six times more likely to have neuropathy.
They also found that patients can show subtle signs of this damage years before their diabetes becomes fully developed.
Professor Anna Körei, from Semmelweis University, said: “Our aim is not just to identify individuals with carbohydrate metabolism disorders, but to detect those at risk as early as possible.”
The scientists claim their findings could be used to track signs of neuropathy in patients at risk of diabetes and then either slow or prevent the nerve damage from occurring.
Neuropathy is one of the long-term complications of diabetes.
High blood sugar levels associated with the disease can injure nerves throughout your body.
Over the long term, this can lead to nerve damage and different symptoms depending on the nerves affected.
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It commonly results in peripheral neuropathy, which causes numbness, tingling, burning sensations, aching, cramps, and weakness in the feet and hands.
This condition can eventually spread to the entire limb.
More than five million Brits are thought to be living with diabetes, of which an estimated 850,000 are unaware they have the condition.
And two million Brits are believed to be at high risk of developing the disease in the next five years, according to Diabetes UK.
New research from the charity found that diagnoses of type 2 diabetes have risen at an alarming rate in people under 40, scientists say.
The study, published in the journal Frontiers in Endocrinology, looked at signs of neuropathy in people with normal blood sugar levels who had a higher risk of developing diabetes.
Those most likely to develop the condition have known diabetes risk factors, such as being overweight or older.
What should my blood sugar be?
Diabetics are urged to monitor their sugar levels and if you’re diabetic it’s likely you will have been given a device so you can do this at home.
You will be told what your average blood sugar level is and this is referred to as your HbA1c level.
While they differ for everyone, the NHS says that if you monitor your levels at home then a normal target is 4 to 7mmol/l before eating and under 8.5 to 9mmol/l 2 hours after a meal.
If it’s tested every few months then a normal HbA1c target is below 48mmol/mol (or 6.5% on the older measurement scale).
They compared the health test results of 44 people at high risk of developing diabetes and 28 healthy controls.
The participants had their heartbeat measured and tested on how their bodies reacted to sensations such as aching, burning pain, and numbness.
They found people at increased risk of diabetes had 5.9 higher odds of having a type called parasympathetic neuropathy when compared to healthy people.
There is no cure for neuropathy linked to diabetes, however drugs are available to combat the symptoms it causes.
What is diabetes? Plus, the 10 warning signs to know
Diabetes is a condition that happens when your blood sugar (glucose) is too high
It develops when your pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin or any at all, or when your body isn’t responding to the effects of insulin properly.
There are 2 main types of diabetes:
- Type 1 diabetes – a lifelong condition where the body’s immune system attacks and destroys the cells that produce insulin
- Type 2 diabetes – where the body does not produce enough insulin, or the body’s cells do not react to insulin properly
Type 2 diabetes is far more common than type 1. In the UK, over 90 per cent of all adults with diabetes have type 2.
High blood sugar that develops during pregnancy is known as gestational diabetes. It usually goes away after giving birth.
The 10 warning signs to know
Visit your GP as soon as possible if you experience the main symptoms of diabetes, which include:
- Feeling very thirsty/dry mouth
- Peeing more frequently than usual, particularly at night
- Feeling very tired
- Dark skin patches
- Frequent infections
- Wounds taking longer to heal
- Weight loss and loss of muscle bulk
- Itchy skin
- Itching around the penis or vagina, or frequent episodes of thrush
- Blurred vision
Type 1 diabetes can develop quickly over weeks or even days.
Weight loss is common in people with type 1 diabetes when it first develops and before it’s treated, but it’s less common in people with type 2 diabetes.
Many people have type 2 diabetes for years without realising it because the early symptoms tend to be general or there are no symptoms at all.
How can I prevent it?
There are no lifestyle changes you can make to lower your risk of type 1 diabetes.
You can reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes through healthy eating, regular exercise and achieving a healthy body weight.
You may be more at risk of type 2 diabetes if you:
- Are living with overweight or obesity
- Do not have a healthy diet
- Have a family history of type 2 diabetes
- Are of Asian, Black African or African Caribbean origin
- Take certain medicines such as steroids for a long time
- Have high blood pressure
- Have had gestational diabetes during pregnancy
Metformin is a medicine used to treat type 2 diabetes and gestational diabetes.
It’s also used to help prevent type 2 diabetes if you’re at high risk of developing it.