Several health conditions and dizziness go hand in hand. If you suffer from dizziness, or vertigo, which is a feeling of spinning often accompanied by lightheadedness, weakness, and near fainting, it could potentially indicate the presence of several underlying health conditions, including low blood pressure, electrolyte imbalance, dehydration, a heart condition, or even hyperthyroidism. However, dizziness is often an early warning sign of diabetes, or more specifically either low blood sugar, or hypoglycemia, or high blood sugar, which is known as hyperglycemia. Both can occur in diabetic patients if blood sugar levels are imbalanced. Diabetics often suffer dizziness due to several bodily malfunctions (i.e., lack of oxygen to the brain, blood sugar dropping, low blood pressure, dehydration, etc.). It’s important for diabetics to not ignore dizzy spells and learn how to prevent dizzy episodes before they lead to fainting. Dizziness for diabetics often occurs in one of 2 ways: 1. Diabetic hyperglycemia Hyperglycemia tends to cause dizziness when the body is dehydrated, this leads to a spike in blood sugar levels when inadequate insulin is readily available for glucose energy. A spike in blood sugar levels can result in a domino effect of negative symptoms, including: Dehydration Confusion and lightheadedness Fainting and loss of balance Legs cramps Blurry vision Anaerobic metabolism, which occurs due to lack of oxygen in the bloodstream to fuel muscle energy.

Most pet owners often don’t recognize health issues in their cats or dogs until mood, energy levels, appetite, or urination habits change drastically. For instance: Pets that start to urinate more often, or have accidents. Cats and dogs with increased appetite or appetite loss. Pets that drink more or less water than normal. These issues often indicate an underlying health issue in your pet, like diabetes mellitus (or sugar-related diabetes). Pet diabetes most often strikes middle-aged animals, causing pancreatic cells to lose the ability to produce insulin. Diabetes in pets, like humans, triggers high blood sugar levels, and associated symptoms such as increased appetite, thirst, urination, and irritable mood (you may notice your cat is grumpier than normal, particularly around food). But don’t despair, a diabetes mellitus diagnosis in your cat or dog can be managed closely by administering insulin and monitoring your pet’s diet closely. Increased blood sugar levels in cats and dogs tend to cause an array of symptoms that stem from too much glucose in the urine and the inability of the kidneys to reabsorb water into the bloodstream. The main symptoms of diabetes in pets include: Dry or dead skin on fur surface, which can affect coat moisture and texture.

Type II diabetes is a chronic metabolic condition that impedes the bodily metabolization of glucose (or sugar), which acts as energy. Patients with type 2 diabetes either don’t produce adequate levels of insulin or becomes insulin resistant, meaning the body is resistant to the actual hormone that transfers bodily energy (sugars) to cells. While type 2 diabetes was once referred to as “adult-onset diabetes” because it largely affected patients in adulthood, today greater percentages of patients are overweight children. While there’s no known cure for type II diabetes, lifestyle changes (i.e., sugar free diet and healthy weight maintenance) as well as the following doctor-prescribed diabetes treatments can help keep symptoms and blood sugar levels under control: 1. Bydureon BCise® This non-insulin diabetes medication is injected by patients once per week to gradually disperse the medicine for 7 days to reduce blood sugar. Bydureon is a type of GLP-1 receptor agonist (i.e., Byetta, Victoza, etc.) and injected via a device with an attached hidden needle. This device holds one dose of medication needed for the week so patients don’t need to increase their dosage or adjust a dial for dosing as needed. Instead, medication is disbursed at a consistent level—via n extended-release delivery system—for a duration of 7 days until another shot is given.