As the immune system weakens, the body’s ability to deal with microbial infection plummets. Also, the attempts to expel glucose often affect the sweat glands and urinary tracts. Diabetics have been found to be lot more susceptible to infection than the general population. There are even a few infections which are exclusive to people suffering from diabetes. Some of the commonly recurring infections among diabetics include styes (infections of the glands of the eyelid), folliculitis (infections of the hair follicles), boils, infections around the nail and carbuncles (deep infections of the skin and the tissue underneath).

As the saturation level of the glucose in the bloodstream climbs, the body needs more and more fluids to help dissolve the sugars. This can result in the fluid getting sucked in from all available quarters, including the lenses of the eyes. The loss of fluid in the lenses affects the eye’s ability to focus properly. This results in blurry, unfocused vision.

With the body unable to utilize glucose to produce energy, it begins burning stored fatty acids. This results in a chemical called ketones being injected into the bloodstream, which in turn increases the acidity of the blood. If the acidity level is too high for the kidneys to deal with, the body switches to the only other way it has to expel acids: through respiration. This can cause an irregular breathing pattern, similar to hyperventilation, as the body attempt to exhale the acids. Starting with rapid, short breathing, the sufferer begins to exhibit a deeper and longer breathing pattern as the acidosis progresses.

As the blood sugar levels of the patient remain high, the saturated glucose can begin to damage parts of the body, especially the nervous system. Nerve damage of this sort is called diabetic neuropathy. This kind of nerve damage can create a numbness in the extremities, particularly the feet and toes, and is sometimes accompanied by a tingling feeling.

The lack of calories being fed to muscle tissues has another debilitating effect: extreme tiredness and fatigue. This is due to the fact that the patient’s body just cannot absorb enough glucose to generate the energy required even for a mild activity.

As the body is unable to break down its fuel effectively to provide nutrition, over time the sufferer usually loses a lot of weight. The calorie deficit means the body is unable to put on weight and store energy to replace what it’s burning, causing the patient to lose of weight drastically without even trying,

The principal effect of a lack of insulin is that the body is unable to generate energy from the sugars like glucose. This deficit of energy can make the sufferer feel extremely hungry as the body desperately craves calories. And as more food is taken in, with the body still unable to break down the glucose, the cycle is repeated.

As the body craves, and receives, water and begins to dissolve the glucose saturating the bloodstream, it is ejected along with the urine. Also, all that water has to go somewhere; so it goes to the bladder. Hence, a sufferer may feel the urge to urinate frequently.

The body being low on insulin, makes it very difficult for the glucose to be absorbed into the cells where the former is used to produce energy. This leads to glucose saturation in the bloodstream, leading to a demand for more and more water to dissolve it. This leads to a constant craving for water.