Recently the medical establishment announced that the new normal blood sugar levels as been lowered. 100 to 125 mg/dL (5.5 to 6.9 mmol/L) is mildly abnormal and is called a borderline diabetic blood sugar level. This is very important information for a diabetic. The importance of this could be the difference between life and death. To understand this we must first expose the type 2 diabetes crisis that has hit the world. What was once considered a problem for the United States has now grown into a global crisis.

What prompted the lowering was that original borderline diabetes level was too high and many thought they were safe but in fact were not. A large number of people in the United States became diabetic with 18 months of being told they were on the borderline. This prompted the medical establishment to lower the number of what was considered safe. People were in danger and never realized it. Diabetes is a silent killer, it is slowly killing the cells of the pancreas. The sugar in the bloodstream is literally choking the life out the the diabetic. The bloodstream is coming polluted and it is affecting the circulation. Men may lose the ability to maintain an erection. Studies show the body of one with elevated sugar is aging faster than one with a normal sugar range.

The lowering of the safety level is important to the diabetic, this is alerting more people that this dangerous and deadly disease is starting to kill their pancreas. Many health officials think that the lower level is still not enough. Some health researchers want the borderline level to be lowered at least another down 10%; the belief is that millions more are still in danger.. To those with borderline diabetes it is urgent to get normal blood sugar levels, it may save your life.

Diabetes is known as one of the “silent killer” diseases. Over 23 million people in the United States have diabetes; only about three quarters of them know they have the disease. The other six million sufferers go undiagnosed until symptoms of the disease become serious. When the disease is just beginning signs of diabetes seem harmless; the sufferer does not seek medical advice, the disease progresses and the symptoms continue untreated.

The early symptoms of diabetes are normally very mild and are often overlooked. Many people who have the symptoms put off seeking medical attention because they feel the symptoms are too trivial to warrant medical treatment. Other people have a hectic lifestyle and put up with the symptoms because they find it difficult to make time to go for medical tests.

The tell-tale beginning signs of diabetes are as follows:

Increased frequency of urination

A need to urinate much more frequently than normal is often the first sign the diabetes sufferer will notice. This symptom might seem like nothing more than an inconvenience. It should, however, be taken seriously as it is caused by the kidneys having to work overtime to filter the blood when it contains high levels of sugar.

Excessive thirst

A need to drink unusually large quantities of liquid is another early sign of diabetes that seems trivial, but it is caused by the body’s need to take in extra fluid to balance the loss caused by the increased kidney activity.

Extreme hunger

An unusual increase in hunger does not seem serious but it is caused by lack of insulin in the body. The energy levels drop and the body gives out hunger signals because it needs food to restore the energy levels to normal.

Unexplained weight loss

Many people welcome weight loss but, if it occurs suddenly and is not associated with deliberate attempts to lose weight, it should be taken as a sign that something is wrong. A medical check up is always advisable in cases of unexplained weight loss.

Feeling unusually fatigued

Feelings of fatigue occur when there is insufficient insulin in the body to efficiently absorb sugar into the blood, the body’s energy levels drop and feelings of tiredness afflict the sufferer.

Feeling uncharacteristically irritable

Irritability is caused by the presence of low energy levels in the body. The sufferer feels sluggish and normal activities become a challenge. Depression is often experienced alongside the irritability.

Blurry vision

Blurred vision or any other unusual disturbances to the vision should always be investigated immediately. If the problem is caused by swelling of the eyes’ lenses, it could cause blindness.

We know that Diabetes is a silent killer, being able to inflict damage because we’re looking somewhere else. We thought we were okay by avoiding sweets. We thought we were okay because no one in the family had it. We thought we were okay because we were negative for urine sugar. We thought we were okay because our wounds healed easily. We now know why it’s a silent killer. But we don’t know how.

Diabetes is a serial killer. But it is a SILENT serial killer because it stays behind the scenes. It doesn’t directly participate in the murder of its not-so-innocent victims. It has many guns-for-hire under its payroll. It is the MASTERMIND. Some of its crimes remain unsolved, pointing only to the one who pulled the trigger but not the one who paid the triggerman.

Let us go into a forensic analysis of how the Mastermind works, what his weapons are, and how we can detect his presence even before we can see him.

1. Stroke

I have mentioned that in Diabetics, cholesterol rises years before the blood sugar goes up. Since diabetics lose the capacity to utilize sugar, tissue fat is mobilized as alternative fuel. So fat in the tissues will have to travel via the arteries. The blood carries too much fat, much of which will be imbibed into the arterial walls. By the time the rising blood sugar is uncovered, the tightened cerebral arteries have already choked off the blood that carries oxygen to the brain. And since the brain cannot last more than 6 minutes without oxygen, the area deprived of it dies. If the patient lives, he is found to have Diabetes. But if he dies, he is diagnosed as a stroke, and the diagnosis of Diabetes dies with him. The triggerman is convicted, with the mastermind scot-free.

2. Heart Attack

In the same process it takes for the cerebral arteries to harden and narrow, the blood supply to the heart declines, giving the patient shortness of breathing and easy fatigability. If the patient seeks medical attention, his Diabetes would be uncovered and treated accordingly. But if the blockage is abrupt, the heart stops beating. Blood will stop going to the brain. And the patient will die of a heart attack. The triggerman is convicted, with the mastermind scot-free.

3. Retinopathy

While the brain and heart suffer because of blockage of the large vessels supplying blood, the small arteries bringing needed oxygen to the eye can more easily get clogged. Those with white collared jobs that require frequent reading and writing easily notice the blurring of vision, but put off a visit to the ophthalmologist thinking that glasses would be a burden to their work. But those who have no use of reading skills, or have not even learned to do so, may not even notice the change until they are no longer able to find their way around the house. It is not, however, the lens of the eye that gets damaged in diabetes, but the retina which is the inside of the eyeball that catches the image thrown by the lens. With retinopathy, it would be like focusing a projector onto a cobblestone wall instead of a white screen. Trying to change the focus with corrective lenses would do nothing to improve the image on the cobblestone. Again the triggerman is convicted, with the mastermind scot-free.

4. Kidney Failure

In my 20 years of medical practice, I might have heard this statement more than twenty thousand times. And as if the misconception of “kidney” being an illness was not enough, those claiming to have “kidney” associate it with urine dribbling. So, patients having this problem are unconcerned, thinking they do not have kidney problems. If the bladder is uninvolved, patients do not complain of dribbling. So the damage that diabetes inflicts on the kidney is so subtle that you don’t feel a thing until you start to bloat because the kidney is no longer able to excrete your excess body water. (The low back pain present in kidney infections is absent in Diabetic Nephropathy.) At this point, your only recourse would either be dialysis or a kidney transplant. The triggerman is convicted, with the mastermind scot-free.

There are subtle and not-so-subtle clues that point to Diabetes as the mastermind. If only we would care to notice before the triggermen do their job.

1) Frequent urination.

-sugar in the urine attracts more water into the kidneys

2) Excessive thirst.

-due to frequent urination

3) Big, big appetite.

-hunger because of under-utilization of sugar in the blood

4) Weight loss.

-due to fat mobilization

5) Tingling sensation or numbness over extremities.

-decreased circulation and nerve swelling

These clues can spell the difference between catching the triggerman or catching the mastermind. Between alleviating the symptoms, or treating the cause.