• Please Remember: Members are only permitted to share their own experiences. Members are not qualified to give medical advice. Additionally, everyone manages their health differently. Please be respectful of other people's opinions about their own diabetes management.
  • We seem to be having technical difficulties with new user accounts. If you are trying to register please check your Spam or Junk folder for your confirmation email. If you still haven't received a confirmation email, please reach out to our support inbox: support.forum@diabetes.org.uk

Progression of complications

Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
DeusXM

DeusXM

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 1
I know it's hard to quantify these things, but does anyone know if there's a kind of timeline for complications in diabetes?

Obviously I'm working on the principle that if your D is well controlled, you avoid them, but I'm wondering if there's a sort of standardised rough progression ie. would retinopathy usually occur before neuropathy etc.?
 
No idea as after 47 years I have no complications 🙂
 
As far as I know there is nothing to say that you are likely to develop one sort of complication before another, and also no guarantee that good control will mean no complications - just that the risks are greatly reduced.
 
I seem to recall being told by the consultant I was seeing at that time that it is rare to get nephropathy ( meaning even first stages- microalbuminuria) without having any evidence of retinopathy
When I was a medical student in the mid to late 90s I remember my textbook citing that the majority of people with diabetes had some evidence of retinopathy within 15 years
As far as neuropathy goes I am informed by my podiatrist that vibration sense is the first to go
I wonder how much modern insulins etc have improved the outlook. Seem to stumble across a lot of people who still have A1cs in the double figures- modern treatments are fantastic but so many patients are still not engaging with their diabetes for whatever reason and there are still pockets of bad care-
 
I was told at a retinopathy screening a couple of years back that at my stage (20-odd years) I was pretty much bound to have some evidence of background changes. I've had one screening that said 'background' but the two since have said 'no changes'. I do get the feeling that eyes are possibly one of the first things to suffer - but I have no idea why I think that!
 
I'm a total newbie at less than three years but my numbers have been horrendous until just recently. I've been lucky so far in that my tests have all come back negative for changes. I hope to keep it that way for as long as possible.
 
I got 'background' after approx 23 years. First in one eye; about 10 years later in both; now 2 bits in one and one in the other - but all miles away from the bit that matters. NP at all.

At 37.5 years they said I had the start of cataracts. NP at all, I assume one day they will be but easily remedied when/if they do.

At 39 years plus 2 months (end of last Septemebr), the tip of my left big toe, just on one side of it, went dead. Now that one really got and still gets to me, I am totally hacked off about it.

Immensely looking forward to my 40th Diaversary at the end of July, which bit of me will be next?

LOL
 
Not meaning to be all 'doom and gloom' but I don't think you can predict complications - my daughter has only been diagnosed for 2 years, was diagnosed with diabetic cataracts 2 months after her diabetes diagnosis.

This is a rare complication but like diabetes in general no one can predict who will get it (except that its usually newly diagnosed adolescents) or why some get it and most don't. My T2 dad also had eye complications quite soon after his diagnosis so I suspect a genetic link but we will probably never know.

Only thing anyone can do is keep as good as control as possible and learn as much as possible. Where this site is so invaluable 🙂
 
also no guarantee that good control will mean no complications - just that the risks are greatly reduced.
Click to expand...

Good point - it's always a role of the dice and you've just got to make sure your dice are weighted where it counts.

I guess the reason I've been asking is I got my retinopathy screening results back yesterday. I've had T1 for 14 years and genetic hypertension for the last decade, the latter of which I've only really recently started to make an effort with. Apparently, my result is 'normal' and I'm at very low risk of retinopathy at the moment. Anyone know if 'normal' is a subjective term?

I'd be interested to find out what has happened to the rate of vascular complications too since the phasing out of animal insulins. Animal insulins contain c-peptide but this is removed from human ones, and c-peptide is increasingly being recognised as having a role to play in blood vessel conditions. I wonder why it's removed from human insulins?
 
There are two broad groupings of diabetes complications:
microvascular (affecting small blood vessels) neuropathy (nerve problems), nephropothies (kidney problems) and vision problems, including retinopathy, glaucoma, cataracts and corneal problems;
and macrovascular (affecting large blood vessels) heart disease, strokes, ulcers, gangrene etc.

However, other aspects of health, particularly blood cholesterol levels and blood pressure, are also very important in determining likelihood of complications, as well as degree of blood glucose control.

Sorry, can't answer about possible progression of complications.
 
On the other hand Helen, it's a great motivator for looking after yourself!
 
DeusXM said:
I'd be interested to find out what has happened to the rate of vascular complications too since the phasing out of animal insulins. Animal insulins contain c-peptide but this is removed from human ones, and c-peptide is increasingly being recognised as having a role to play in blood vessel conditions. I wonder why it's removed from human insulins?
Click to expand...

I would just like to point out animal insulin's have not and are not being phased out.
When ill informed people make statements relating to the phasing out and or withdrawal of animal insulin's it upsets a lot of people. Until you have it in concrete please refrain from making statements to this effect 😡 ta muchly 🙂
 
Sorry Sue - yes, you're right, animal insulins are still available. It's just you generally have to specifically request them now, right? Hence my 'phasing out' comment, they're not the usual frontline treatment. The IDDT does a great job of making the case for animal insulins, the basic point obviously being many people could benefit from them if they were made more aware of their availability.
 
But Deus - and I'm sure Sue will soon correct me if I've got this wrong - the current animal insulins DON'T have c-pep any more.

Someone is in the throes of all the testing on an actual c-peptide on its own. Not clear if this is animal, vegetable, mineral or refined from moon rocks - but the very early trials have been successful - ie made an improvement to people's BG.

Roll it on. These things takes years. It's still a bit nearer than a cure though !
 
trophywench said:
But Deus - and I'm sure Sue will soon correct me if I've got this wrong - the current animal insulins DON'T have c-pep any more.

Someone is in the throes of all the testing on an actual c-peptide on its own. Not clear if this is animal, vegetable, mineral or refined from moon rocks - but the very early trials have been successful - ie made an improvement to people's BG.

Roll it on. These things takes years. It's still a bit nearer than a cure though !
Click to expand...

It's DUK that are funding the C-peptide study TW:

http://www.diabetes.org.uk/Get_involved/Donate/Archive/Promise-appeal-enews/C-peptide/
 
For what I understand its a badly controlled diabetic that can have complications. I could be wrong though.
I had a dear friend who was badly controlled type 1 and would eat 'naughty' things like cream cakes and just give herself extra insulin. She then ,at her mid twenties developed retinopathy and tragically died at 28 having had a severe fit during sleep .

This is why as a disabled person with a progressive neuropathy I have relented to having treatment for my diabetes t2 of insulin.
 
veganlass said:
For what I understand its a badly controlled diabetic that can have complications. I could be wrong though.
...
Click to expand...

Very sorry to hear about your friend veganlass :( It's not entirely true that only poorly-controlled diabetics suffer from complications, but by exercising good control you can significantly reduce the risks. Certainly, with a lot of Type 2s it may be a number of years before they get diagnosed, and the diagnosis may be prompted by the manifestation of one or more complications. As with most things human, there is great variability in what the outcomes may be - a bit like the fact that everyone had an auntie that smoked 80 woodbines a day and lived to 88 (my own Aunt Mary-Ann being a case in point!), there are diabetics who seemingly escape the consequences of less-than-perfect control, and those who suffer despite all their positive efforts.

We don't know what our future holds, all we can do is our best to lower our risks - of course we also get the benefit if we do that of being far healthier and happier in general! 🙂
 
Status
This thread is now closed. Please contact Anna DUK, Ieva DUK or everydayupsanddowns if you would like it re-opened.
Back
Top