Diabetes: symptomes & diagnosis

Diabetes is often called a "silent" disease because many people have no signs or symptoms before they are diagnosed. Symptoms can also be so mild that you might not notice them. More than 5 million people in the United States have type 2 diabetes and do not know it.

The signs of diabetes are

being very thirsty
urinating often
feeling very hungry or tired
losing weight without trying
having sores that heal slowly
having dry, itchy skin
losing the feeling in your feet or having tingling in your feet
having blurry eyesight.

Symptoms of type 1 diabetes, which occurs most often in children and young adults, usually develop over a short period of time. The symptoms for type 2 diabetes develop more gradually. Gestational diabetes develops only during pregnancy and usually disappears after delivery. However, the mother is at increased risk of getting type 2 diabetes later in life.

Doctors use the following tests to diagnose diabetes:

A fasting plasma glucose, or FPG test, measures your blood glucose after you have gone at least 8 hours without eating. Doctors use this test to detect diabetes or pre-diabetes.
An oral glucose tolerance test, or OGTT, measures your blood glucose after you have gone at least 8 hours without eating and 2 hours after you drink a read more