Why are Diabetics at a Higher Risk of Infection?
All of us have observed or heard that there is always an increased risk of infection in people suffering from diabetes. Infections also take a longer time to heal if diabetes remains undiagnosed or uncontrolled. Sometimes, when some infections do not heal for a long time, diabetes is a coincidental diagnosis when you visit your doctor repeatedly. Why does this happen in diabetes? Diabetes is a group of metabolic disorders characterized by a high blood sugar level over a prolonged period of time. This high blood sugar level is believed to weaken the immune system, specifically in type 2 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes generally has an over-active immune system due to the auto-immune nature of the disease. In type 1 diabetes, the body’s T lymphocytes target against the body’s own insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Type 2 diabetes has a chronic state of inflammation within the body, especially when it is uncontrolled of undiagnosed. The increased blood sugar level i...