Diabetes symptoms: What does your breath smell like? Two warning signs of high blood sugar
Type 2 diabetes can be a 'devastating diagnosis' says expert
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Diabetes is caused by an accumulation of sugar in the bloodstream, leading to a whole load of complications. But it’s not always easy to know if you’re at risk of the condition, or not.
Most cases of diabetes are caused by type 2 diabetes, where the body struggles to produce enough of the hormone insulin, or the body doesn’t react to insulin.
Insulin is needed to convert sugar in the blood into useable energy.
Without enough of the hormone, the amount of sugar in the blood can continue to rise, increasing the risk of heart disease or nerve damage.
You might be at risk of diabetes if you notice some small changes to the smell of your breath.
Some diabetes patients develop breath that either smells like pear drop sweets, or nail varnish, according to the NHS.
The change is caused by a process known as diabetic ketoacidosis, which is linked to high blood sugar.
If you begin to run out of insulin, life-threatening ketones begin to build up in the body.
Diabetes patients should regularly check their blood sugar levels – but it’s even more important if they develop signs of diabetic ketoacidosis, it warned.
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“Diabetic ketoacidosis [DKA] is a serious problem that can happen in people with diabetes if their body starts to run out of insulin,” said the NHS.
“DKA mainly affects people with type 1 diabetes, but can sometimes affect people with type 2 diabetes.
“You can get DKA if you have high blood sugar [hyperglycaemia] and a high level of ketones in your blood or urine.
“Symptoms of DKA include needing to pee more than usual, feeling very thirsty, being sick, tummy pain, [and] breath that smells fruity [like pear drop sweets, or nail varnish].”
But just because you have bad breath, or your breath smells differently from normal, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you have diabetes.
It might simply be caused by eating particularly smelly to spicy foods.
On rarer occasions, bad breath could be caused by tonsillitis or acid reflux.
But if your bad breath doesn’t go away after a few weeks, you might want to consider speaking to a dentist.
Meanwhile, more common diabetes symptoms include passing more urine than normal, feeling very tired, and having blurred vision.
Some patients have also reported feeling unusually hungry or thirsty.
If you’re worried about the symptoms of diabetes, you should speak to a doctor.
Left untreated, it increases the risk of heart disease or strokes, as well as some cancers and kidney problems.
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