People suffering from diabetes type 1 or type 2 are at increased risk from having respiratory infections, urinary tract infections and skin infections.
Some other problems that were already associated with diabetic patients are kidney damage, nerve damage, eye problems that can lead to blindness, and cardiovascular complications. Body weight increase is a major risk factor for incidence of diabetes of all types. All persons dealing with the disease currently know these. However the new reearch, which comes out in the online issue of the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, had just added some more disease to the list of maladies related to diabetes.The new research shows that patients with diabetes type 1 are twice as likely to develop urinary tract infections that those who are non-diabetic. The increasing number of type 2 diabetic patients will be more at risk from common infections of the longs, bladder and skin.
Researchers of the new study feel that obesity alone should be studied separately as a factor for causing diabetes and how it is also related to increased incidence of infections.
Some of the preventive measures suggested by the researchers regarding common infections for diabetic patients are taking influenza vaccine, drinking plenty of fluids, and in general leading a healthy lifestyle.
Reference: Clinical Infectious Diseases, online edition, June 2005
