Yes.
Most people take allergy medications if they have reactions to tree, grass, and weed pollen, especially in the spring.
Many of the allergy medications, for example, from the prescription name-brand Flonase to the over-the-counter Nasacort, contain corticosteroids.
These drugs reduce the inflammation caused by seasonal allergies but can also cause a rise in blood glucose levels.
Because of this, most health care professionals recommend that seasonal allergy-prone diabetics pay closer attention to their blood glucose levels.
They may also want to discuss modifying their diabetes medicine or insulin with their health care provider or see whether there is another allergy medicine that does not contain corticosteroids.
The Handy Diabetes Answer Book
DIABETES AND INSIDE THE HUMAN BODY
INSIDE THE HUMAN BODY
What is an “organ” in the human body?
An organ is a group of several different tissues working together as a unit to perform a specific function or functions in the body. Each organ performs functions that none of the component tissues can perform alone. This cooperative interaction of different tissues is a basic feature of animals, including humans. For example, the heart is an organ that consists of cardiac muscle wrapped in connective tissue, with nerve tissues controlling the rhythmic contractions of the heart’s muscles.
How many organs are in the human body?
About 78 organs are in the human body, each one with a different size, shape, and function (or sometimes the same, as with two kidneys). The largest organ, with respect to its size and weight, is the skin. Not everyone has organs in the same place. For example, sometimes the kidney may be located closer to the pelvis, or only one kidney may be present. These differences can be due to genetics, differences in the organ’s cell growth, or even disease.
Several body systems are negatively affected by diabetes, which can damage everything from the heart and kidneys to causing blindness or damaging peripheral nerves, which could even necessitate amputations.
What body systems are most affected by diabetes, especially when the disease is left untreated?
If a person’s diabetes is left untreated, then many, often life-threatening, complications will arise in other parts of the body. In particular, major problems can develop with the heart, eyes, kidneys, nerves, and circulatory system. Often just as much of a problem, the muscular, reproductive, immune, and integumentary (skin) systems can be affected by untreated diabetes. (For more information about how diabetes affects these systems, see their respective chapters.)
What are the major organ systems in the human body?
An organ system is a group of organs working together to perform a vital body function. There are 12 major organ systems in the human body. The following lists those organ systems, along with their components and functions:
Major Organ Systems
Organ System
Components
Functions
Cardiovascular
Heart, blood, and blood vessels
Transports blood throughout the body, supplying nutrients and carrying oxygen to the lungs and wastes to the kidneys
Digestive
Mouth, esophagus, stomach,
Allows the ingestion of food and breaks intestines, liver, and pancreas it down into smaller (chemical) units
Endocrine
Pituitary, adrenal, thyroid, and
Coordinates and regulates the activities other ductless glands of the body, including metabolism
Excretory
Kidneys, bladder, and urethra
Helps to remove wastes from the bloodstream
Immune
Lymphocytes, macrophages,
Removes foreign substances from the and antibodies bloodstream
Integumentary
Skin, hair, nails, and sweat
Protects the body; the skin holds in the glands organs
Lymphatic
Lymph nodes, lymphatic
Captures body fluids and returns them capillaries, lymphatic vessels, to the cardiovascular system spleen, and thymus
Muscular
Skeletal muscle, cardiac
Allows the body to move muscle, and smooth muscle
Nervous
Nerves, sense organs, brain,
Receives external stimuli, processes and spinal cord information, and directs activities
Reproductive
Testes, ovaries, and related
Carries out reproduction organs
Respiratory
Lungs, trachea, and other air
Exchanges gases (captures oxygen [O 2 ] passageways and disposes of carbon dioxide [CO 2 ])
Skeletal
Bones, cartilage, and ligaments
Protects and provides support for the body’s motions and movements
DIABETES AND THE SENSES: TOUCH, HEARING, SMELL, AND TASTE
What is diabetic neuropathy, and how does it affect a person who has diabetes?
In general, diabetic neuropathy is the loss of sensation, including touch, because of diabetes. This occurs because over time, diabetes can cause nerve damage as high blood glucose levels damage the body’s nerve fibers. This damage often causes several symptoms, including loss of feeling, especially on the skin and in the extremities. (For more about nerve damage and diabetes, see the chapter “How Diabetes Affects the Nervous System.”)
Can diabetes cause hearing loss?
No one truly knows whether diabetes can cause hearing loss, but it is known that many people with diabetes have some hearing loss. Some researchers believe that, as with nerve damage in the eyes, high blood glucose levels in a person with diabetes may damage the small vessels and/or nerves in the inner ear, causing hearing loss. Other reasons can add to the hearing loss, including exposure to toxins, injury (loud noises such as heavily amplified music through headphones), or genetic disorders.
What is tinnitus?
Tinnitus is the perception of sound in the ears or head where no external source is present.
In almost all cases, tinnitus is a subjective noise, meaning that only the person who has tinnitus can hear it.
It is often referred to as “ringing in the ears.” Persistent tinnitus usually indicates the presence of hearing loss.
The exact cause of tinnitus is not known, but there are several likely sources, all of which are known to trigger or worsen the condition.
They include noise-induced hearing loss, wax buildup in the ear canal, medicines that are toxic to the ear, ear or sinus infections, head or neck trauma, jaw misalignment (often associated with the temporal mandibular joint), and Meniere’s disease.
How are tinnitus and diabetes connected?
According to many studies, there may be a connection between tinnitus and diabetes.
This is because those who experience tinnitus often have elevated blood glucose levels, which can lead to diabetes, or they already have diabetes with uncontrolled blood glucose levels.
Because the inner ears depend on oxygen and glucose from the bloodstream for their energy (as in the brain, there are no fat reserves to use for energy in the ears), when a person’s glucose is interrupted, the parts of the ear called the cochlea and vestibular (inner ear) system cannot function well, resulting in tinnitus.
In fact, one study indicated that close to 90 percent of the participants who had inner ear problems (called peripheral vestibular disorder) had higher glucose levels and problems metabolizing insulin.
This is why many health care professionals suggest that people with diabetes who have “ringing in the ears” keep good control over their blood glucose levels to lessen the effects of, or even help stop the development of, tinnitus.
How does a person taste and smell?
A person’s ability to taste comes from certain cells located in clusters (taste buds) on the tongue, roof of the mouth (palate), and within the lining of the throat.
A person tastes thanks to the thousands of nerve endings associated with the taste buds (everyone is born with about 10,000, but lose many with age).
In general, each taste bud strongly responds to a certain taste according to its position on the tongue.
Sweet receptors are concentrated at the tip of the tongue, while sour receptors are more common at the sides of the tongue.
Salt receptors occur most frequently at the tip and front edges of the tongue, and bitter receptors are most numerous at the back of the tongue.
These nerve endings help a person to distinguish among spicy, sweet, and sour foods.
The nerves also help a person to distinguish smells.
Because the aroma of a particular food also contributes to its taste, most people can tell the difference between foods, such as an orange from an apple.
This is also why, if a person has diabetes, the sense of smell and taste can also be affected, as the nerve endings can be damaged by high blood glucose levels (for more about neuropathy, see the chapter “How Diabetes Affects the Nervous System”).
Do many people have impaired taste and smell?
According to the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), around 15 percent of adults may have a problem with their ability to taste and/or smell. As with many other conditions, it is estimated that only around 200,000 seek medical help for either condition. In fact, the NIDCD estimates that almost 75 percent of all adults ages 57 to 85 have some type of taste impairment, which is why it is often difficult to persuade older people to eat healthful foods to stay well.
Does type 1 or type 2 diabetes affect a person’s ability to taste and smell?
For many people who have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, the disease will not affect taste or smell.
But there are some indications that taste in some people with diabetes can change.
For example, one study (although the number of participants was small) indicated that of the people who had type 1 diabetes, around 70 percent had impaired taste, compared with 16 percent who did not have diabetes.
In yet another study, participants who were newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes seemed to have more trouble tasting sweet foods.
In addition, some medications can affect a person’s taste (and often smell), including metformin, one of the most common medications to treat type 2 diabetes.
About 70 percent of people with type 1 diabetes have an impaired ability to taste foods.
DIABETES AND THE EYES
What are the parts of the eye and their functions?
The major parts of the eye and their functions are summarized in the following chart:
Parts of the Eye
Structure
Function
Sclera
Maintains shape of eye; protects eyeball; site of eye muscle attachment; it is also referred to as “the white of the eye”
Cornea
Refracts incoming light; focuses light on the retina
Pupil
Admits light
Iris
Regulates amount of incoming light
Lens
Refracts and focuses light rays
Aqueous humor
Helps maintain shape of eye; maintains intraocular pressure; nourishes and cushions cornea and lens
Ciliary body
Holds lens in place; changes shape of lens
Vitreous humor
Maintains intraocular pressure; transmits light to retina; keeps retina firmly pressed against choroids
Retina
Absorbs light; stores vitamin A; forms impulses which are transmitted to brain; the macula of the retina is responsible for clear, sharp central vision
Optic nerve
Transmits impulses to the brain
Choroid
Absorbs stray light; nourishes retina
The extra (accessory) structures of the eye include the eyebrows, eyelids, eyelashes, conjunctiva (mucus membrane that covers the front of the eye and inside the eyelids), and tear duct areas (called the lachrymal apparatus). These structures have several functions, including protecting the front portion of the eye, preventing the entry of foreign particles, and keeping the eyeball moist.