On an average, people with type 2 diabetes will die 5-10 years before people without diabetes, mostly due to cardiovascular disease.

Every 10 seconds a person dies from diabetes-related causes.

10% to 20% of people with diabetes die of renal failure- International Diabetic Foundation

What are the major complications of diabetes?

The complications of diabetes are mostly due to the damage of the blood vessels supplying the organs and the most common organs affected by diabetes are the kidneys, the heart, the eyes and the nerves.

What kidney problems can diabetes cause?

Kidney functions as a filtering machine in a human body by throwing out the waste in the form of urine. Uncontrolled diabetes damages the kidney and prevents it from carrying out its functions thus leading to accumulation of wastes in the body, which causes further problems. Early stage of kidney disease is known as microalbuminuria which can be detected by a simple urine test. Once detected to have microalbuminuria, your doctor will prescribe medications in addition to your regular diabetic medications to delay the damage of your kidneys.

What heart problems can diabetes cause?

Diabetes is one of the leading causes of heart attacks in the world, due to the damage of the blood vessels of the heart.  This is probably the most dangerous complication of diabetes as it can cause immediate death.

What eye problems can diabetes cause?

The most common eye complication of diabetes is known as diabetic retinopathy. In the early stages, it presents as blurred and distorted vision. In the most severe form, it can cause blindness. It is therefore essential to get your eyes checked by a competent eye doctor at least once a year.

What are the nerve problems caused by diabetes?

Nerves depend on multiple tiny vessels which carry nutrients and oxygen to keep intact all the segments of these very long nerves. Damage to one small segment can result in loss of feeling, pain or burning sensations that bother the foot and leg which later on lead to loss of sensation. The loss of sensation causes injury to the leg to go without being noticed. Since diabetes already causes non healing wounds, these wounds tent to get infected. In late stages, the only way to heal such wounds would be to surgically remove the affected toe, toes or even parts of the affected leg.

What are the other problems caused by diabetes?

Apart from the above, diabetes can cause infections of the skin, poor healing of other infections, worsening of asthma due to infections etc.

Most of the complications of diabetes can be prevented by optimal control of blood sugar levels with diet, exercise and medications.