Advocate Redi-Code Talking Blood Glucose Monitoring System

Diabetes can be extremely dangerous, especially if you fail to manage it. Consulting with your doctor is as important as regularly monitoring your blood sugar levels. Over time, high blood sugar levels can damage your eyes, blood vessels, nerves and kidneys. Here are some of the problems (also called complications) diabetes can cause:

Blindness and vision loss (called diabetic retinopathy): Diabetes can damage the small blood vessels in the retina, which can cause vision loss and even blindness.

Heart disease: People who have diabetes are twice as likely to have heart disease and damage to the blood vessels in the heart. This increases their risk of heart attack and stroke.

Nerve and blood vessel damage (called diabetic neuropathy): Damage to blood vessels in the legs can limit the supply of blood to the nerves in the legs and feet. This can cause burning, tingling and numbness in the affected areas (usually starting in the toes and spreading to the whole foot). It also makes it difficult to feel injuries (such as foot sores). Damage to the blood vessels can also put you at risk for infections and sores that don’t heal. In severe cases, parts of the foot or lower leg may have to be amputated (removed).

Kidney disease (called diabetic nephropathy): Diabetes can damage the small blood vessels in the kidneys, which then can’t filter out the body’s waste. In some people, the kidneys stop working completely. These people require dialysis or a kidney transplant. 

Source: http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/common/diabetes/basics/350.html