Over time, high blood sugar levels can damage blood vessels. This can lead to health problems (complications). Keeping your blood sugar in your target ranges can help prevent or delay complications.

If you have diabetes, you are two to four times more likely to have heart disease than someone without diabetes. You can control your health risks by making some changes in your life.

Diabetes makes your body less able to use the foods you eat. As a result, glucose (the form of sugar the body uses as fuel) builds up in the blood. Over time, having too much glucose in your blood can damage blood vessels and kidneys. By controlling diabetes, you can maintain a healthy blood glucose level and slow any kidney damage.

Peripheral neuropathy is a disease of the nerves in your feet. It may make you unable to sense pain. Lack of pain makes you more likely to injure yourself without knowing it. But you can learn ways to protect your feet from injury.

Force or friction against the bottom of your foot causes the skin to thicken, forming a callus. If the skin keeps thickening, the callus presses up into the foot. This kills healthy tissue and causes pain. Unfortunately, you may not notice the pain if you have neuropathy, a health problem that limits how much feeling you have in your feet.

Charcot foot is a pattern of bone and joint damage that can lead to foot deformity. Charcot foot begins with peripheral neuropathy, a disease of the nerves in the feet.

When you have diabetes, you are at greater risk for periodontal disease (infection of the gums and tissues supporting the teeth). Any periodontal disease you may develop can be more severe and harder to control. Preventing or controlling periodontal disease requires ongoing care.

A clear lens in the eye focuses light. This lets the eye see images sharply. With age, the lens slowly becomes cloudy. The cloudy lens is a cataract. A cataract scatters light and makes it hard for the eye to focus.

Glaucoma is an eye disease that can cause blindness. It usually begins when pressure builds up in the eye. If caught early, it can usually be controlled. But it often has no symptoms, so you need regular eye exams.

Many men have ED sometime during their lives. It can be discouraging, but it can also be treated. Work with your doctor to find the best treatment for you.

About one-third of people with diabetes get a skin problem sooner or later. Fortunately, most problems can be prevented or easily treated.

If you have diabetes, controlling your blood glucose, or blood sugar, is important to help you feel well on a daily basis. It’s also vital to help prevent potentially serious complications such as nerve damage, or neuropathy.

At first, your doctor may simply want to monitor your vision. From time to time, you may also have an angiogram. This test uses a special dye to create detailed images of the retina. These images help your doctor decide whether special treatments are needed.

Gastroparesis is a stomach disorder that can affect people with diabetes. It occurs when nerve damage keeps the stomach from emptying normally.

Once you know the risk to your heart health, you can start focusing on something positive: You can take steps right now to keep your heart pumping soundly and your blood flowing smoothly.

Part of the treatment for chronic conditions involves adopting the same healthy lifestyle habits that are important for everyone.

Diabetic autonomic neuropathy is a sub-group of diabetic neuropathy, a group of nerve diseases affecting the peripheral nerves outside the brain and spinal cord.

Kidney disease is a stealth illness. It may often be silent for many years—until it has reached an advanced stage.

Normally, your body warns you of a problem by making you feel pain. But over time, high blood sugar damages nerves in your body. This may keep you from feeling pain caused by a heart problem.

If managing diabetes seems like a full-time job, keep in mind it’s a task that can’t be taken lightly. Diabetes is the fifth-leading cause of death by disease in the United States.