Diabetes is an autoimmune disease that is chronic, so over time it can have a significant impact on your life. With diabetes it is necessary to control your levels of blood glucose (sugar) so it gets neither too low nor too high.
Sores and wounds that do not heal well are due to diabetes, so they have to be monitored carefully to avoid infection. If an infection cannot be controlled it could lead to sepsis, which could further lead on to septic shock.
Sepsis is also called blood poisoning, although the term “sepsis” is the more medically recognised term. Sepsis is the deadly reaction to an infection that has spread beyond its initial entry point into the body. This could be an infection taking place anywhere in the body like pneumonia, or from a urinary tract infection.
What is diabetes?
Your pancreas is an organ linked to the small intestine, just below the stomach and towards your back. The pancreas helps digest food by secreting insulin. This stimulates your cells to make use of the glucose found in the drink and food you consume. In the case of a diabetic, the pancreas fails to function correctly so the insulin may not be secreted at all, or it is not effective.
Statistics indicate that at least 549,000 people in the country have diabetes that has not been diagnosed. This number, added to those who have been diagnosed, makes more than 4 million diabetes sufferers.
Type 1 diabetes
In the case of type 1 diabetes, the pancreas is not able to provide sufficient insulin in order to metabolize the glucose found in a person’s blood stream. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease, which means anyone who has diabetes may have a higher than normal chance of developing an infection which if left untreated could lead to sepsis.
Type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes may occur when the pancreas fails to produce sufficient insulin or the body is unable to effectively use what insulin is produced.
People at the highest risk of getting Type 1 diabetes are:
- anyone with a family history of it;
- anyone who lives in a country that is a long distance from the equator;
- anyone who possesses the gene that appears to be linked to the disease;
For type 2 diabetes the highest risk groups are:
- anyone over 45 years;
- anyone who has a low HDL (“good”) cholesterol and/or has higher triglyceride levels;
- suffers from higher than normal blood pressure;
- has had diabetes when pregnant.
If you have diabetes and develop an infection you should look out for sepsis signs.
Typical Symptoms of Sepsis
- high fever;
- lower than usual body temperature;
- heart rate of more than 90 beats each minute (bpm);
- fast breathing rate;
- developed a confused state.
If any of these sepsis signs are present, you will need to get to hospital as quickly as possible in order to avoid any long term damage caused by sepsis.