My uncle has diabetes and he is 68 years old, and yet he says that he has no problem in his erection, but my auntie says the man has erectile dysfunction. Is he in denial? Or he is just ashamed to confess his being a diabetic has deprived him of so numerous things, and one of them is to enjoy sex. Please tell me approximately the complications of diabetes. My uncle has been diabetic for more than 20 years already and he says he's in control of his diabetes, yet he complains of back hurting and numbness in his extremities. His average Fbs reading is 130 mg/dL and his post prandial is hovering between 160 to 250 mg/dL. Thanks in advance.
Probably, your uncle is in denial, but whether he uses Viagra, Levitra or Cialis his Ed could be helped (if he has no complications in using these strong drugs! but he has to consult a physician before using them.
But since your impeach is centered on the many complications of diabetes, then I am giving you a reference source exactly to educate you on the matter. Apparently, your uncle seems to be in control (as you aptly termed it! but he has to lower further his Fbs to around 100 and his post prandial to a max of 160. Here is the source:
Diabetes Complications: What's Your Risk?
Why are people with diabetes at high risk of nerve hurting, heart disease, and blindness?
WebMD Feature
By Jeanie Lerche Davis
Reviewed By Brunilda Nazario, Md
Heart attack, stroke, blindness, amputation, kidney failure. When doctors describe these diabetes complications, it may sound melodramatic -- like an overblown worst-case scenario. The truth is, these matters can happen when blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol are out of control.
lot of people don't really think it will happen to them, says David C. Ziemer, Md, director of the Diabetes Clinic at Grady Hospital in Atlanta. for a lot of folks, the wake-up comes when they actually have a complication a poor infection in the foot. That's a nasty wake-up call. you have uncontrolled diabetes, a serious and deep-seated foot infection can mean loss of a toe, foot, or leg -- amputation -- to save your life. Seriously.
How is this possible? Over time, high blood sugar slowly injures the blood vessels, nerves, and organs in your body. The higher your blood sugar is -- and the longer it stays high -- the worse the damage is. Smoking and drink ratchet up the damage several more notches.
is slow and occurs over a period of years -- but it probably begins when blood sugar is at mildly elevated levels, says Ronald Goldberg, Md, associate director of the Diabetes Research Institute at the University of Miami Medical Center. you may not be diagnosed with diabetes, but the damage has already begun. damage from diabetes shows up a bit differently in everyone -- if it attacks the nerves, eyes, or kidneys, Goldberg tells Webmd. genetics probably influence which complications you are more susceptible to. problem is, many people have diabetes a lot longer than they realize, says Ziemer. most have diabetes an average of five to seven years before they're diagnosed. Diabetes Complications: The Risks You Face
As blood vessels, nerves, and organs become damaged, your risk of diabetes complications increases. These are the most serious:
Heart disease, heart attack, heart failure, and stroke risks are doubled. Heart disease and stroke cause at least 65 of deaths from diabetes. Major eye complications (diabetic retinopathy) are linked to blood vessel problems in the eyes. Diabetes is a main cause of preventable blindness; cataracts and glaucoma are also common. Reduced blood flow to nerves and high blood sugar results in nerve hurting, burning, numbness (peripheral neuropathy). Serious leg and foot infections, even gangrene and amputation, are due to bad blood circulation, lack of oxygen and nutrients to tissue, and nerve damage. Kidney damage (diabetic nephropathy) is a common risk for people with diabetes.
The complications of diabetes are indeed serious -- but they are not inevitable, Ziemer tells Webmd. keeping blood sugar under control is the unmarried the most important factor in preventing them. But people have a hard time greedy just how critical that is, he says. it's hard to receive them to tune into it. you luck.
hmmm. your aunt shouldn't really be telling you about your uncle's erectile dysfunction. he's probably embarrassed and it's not something he's comfortable having you or anyone else knowing about. approximately it. it's not unusual for a guy to have this problem as both nerve damage and vascular problems often develop with long term and or uncontrolled diabetes. he more than likely has some neuropathy and at sixty eight, it's not uncommon to have at least age approprate osteoarthritis. blood sugars ranging from 150 to 250 are absolutely not good control, but it would be better to know what his a1c is. a well controlled diabetic should be between six and six.nine.
do some research and encourage him to aim for better control. maybe he can hold off diabetic nephropathy and retinopathy for a good while longer, but he should be checked for both at this point. type one diabetic since 1953
diabetes does effect the prostate. was he in viet nam? a lot of his symptoms sound like agent orange!
Erectile dysfunction is very common in diabetes and this is especially true when the diabetes is not well controlled. Your uncle's diabetes is not well controlled. The 1st step in treating erectile dysfunction is to control the diabetes. The 2nd step is to degree a serum testosterone level. The testosterone levels in men have been declining for 20 years although no one knows why. Indeed when I developed erectile dysfunction 10 years ago it turned out that my testosterone level was quite low. My trouble responded very well to testosterone replacement. Whether the diabetes is controlled and the testosterone level is normal then a trial of a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor is fair. These are sildenafil citrate (viagra), tadalafil (cialis), and vardenafil hydrochloride (levitra). No one drug is more effective than any other of these drugs although for an unknown reason some men will reply to one but not another. It is extremely common for men to be reluctant to address this issue. I recall rather vividly one time when my nurse called me to the waiting room to defuse a rather heated argument between an elderly couple. The gentlemen as a new patient was filling out his health history form and under the section sexual Activity' he put weekly' and his wife rather loudly informed everyone in a one block radius of the office that they had not had sex in 10 years. As an addendum let me offer the reference range for proper diabetic control. The fasting glucose typically should not exceed 100 mg/dL or 5.6 mmol/L and the 2 hour post-prandial (after meal) and bedtime glucose typically should not exceed 140 mg/dL or 7.8 mmol/L. Please note that I say typically' as there will be some variation from day to day. Nonetheless your uncle is no where approach this goal. If I may be of further assistance please let me know. I wish you and your family the very best of health and in all things may God bless.
Diabetes causes all types of end organ damage. Increased blood sugars affect your metabolism is a ton of different ways, but specifically, diabetics develop increased plaque on the inside of their arteries which leads to narrowing/hardening of the arteries and increases blood pressure. The changes in the arteries cause a diminish in blood flow and oxygen to tissues. Diminish blood flow to his nerves causes the numbness and tingling in his extremities. This can also play a role in the nerves that are needed to stimulate erection. The bigger issue tough, is the that the decreased blood flow in his body make it difficult for him to receive enough blood flow to his penis to keep it turgid. He can try using blood vessel dilators such as viagara or cialis to maintain an erection. The biggest complications of diabetes include retinopathy (loss of eyesight), nephropathy (renal failure), and neuropathy (nerve damage like your uncle is experiencing). Well controlled blood sugars should range from 70 to 140. More important is his hemoglobin A1c. This measures the average of his blood sugars over the past three months. Ideally this number should be 7 or less. Hope that helps!