What are the symptoms and complications of diabetes?

Some of the symptoms include: constant thirst, passing more urine than normal, tiredness, unexplained weight loss, blurred vision or regular episodes of thrush.

These symptoms are a result of having too much glucose in the blood and not enough in the cells. In uncontrolled diabetes, high levels of glucose over many years can damage many different parts of the body:

• in the heart and blood vessels it aggravates atherosclerosis (hardening and narrowing of blood vessels by fatty deposits) – causing coronary artery disease, stroke and blood circulation problems in the eyes, causing reduced vision which may lead to blindness
• kidney disease and kidney failure
• ulcers, infections, gangrene, etc in the feet
• in the nerves, causing loss of sensation (especially in the feet and legs), pins and needles, and impotence

Source: http://www.mediclinic.co.za/health/Pages/DiabetesAwarenessMonth2013.aspx