Top 3 Symptoms of High Blood Sugar

With diabetes, it is paramount to diagnose the disease early on so as to avoid the serious complications that can develop from untreated diabetes over time. Treatment can begin as soon as diabetes is detected and through early control, the risk for later complications is greatly reduced. Symptoms of Type 1 diabetes can be manifested quite quickly and can increase over weeks or even days, this is particularly true for children or adolescents. The three top symptoms of high blood sugar that appears before Type 1 diabetes is detected are referred to as the 3 P's.

Polydipsia or excessive thirst is one of the first signs of diabetes and is often marked by temporary dryness of mouth or longer periods of intense thirst. Drinking several glasses of water each day, especially when feeling thirsty, is an important part of staying in good health. Water helps regulate the body temperature and works to eliminate wastes. When you still feel thirsty after drinking water or you always seem to be thirsty and the urge to drink is stronger than usual, these could be signs that something is wrong internally.

Polyphagia or hyperphagia is the medical term that is used for increased appetite or excessive hunger which is one of the three main signs of diabetes. Polyphagia can result after any strenuous activity or exercise which allows more calories to be burned than usual. As you work hard you begin to feel very hungry and unless you replace the energy lost you can suffer hyperglycaemia. Even serious conditions of stress and depression can also produce a polyphagia condition.

Polyuria is one of the top signs of diabetes mellitus but is present in Type 2 cases and is often the end result of polyphagia which causes excessive drinking of fluids, especially water, or caffeine and alcoholic drinks. Since diabetes is a disease that manifests itself in abnormally high blood sugar values, when the kidneys filter the blood to make urine they also absorb the sugars that were in the blood and send them back into the bloodstream. Under diabetic conditions, the excessive glucose in the blood ends up in the urine where it draws out increased amounts of water from the body. This increased liquid intake proceeds to excessive urination or passing large amounts of urine daily of more than three litres of urine, which is well above the normal amounts of one or two litres daily for adults. Severe dehydration may be a result from this condition which can then lead to kidney malfunction if this condition goes untreated.