May 6, 2003
Diagnosis and Symptoms
Question from Baltimore, Maryland, USA:
I suspect that my 30 year old, African-American daughter may be borderline or have diabetes. For the past three months, she has complained of bruises on the big toe on both feet in the toenail area. The bruises are very visible, and dark when you look at the toes. At first, we thought it was frostbite from shoveling snow, but they keep returning. She stands for long periods of time at work, and when she does, the bruising returns. I also remember periods when she was in college when she would experience unexplained bruises in her joints — arms, back of knees, but this stopped years ago. Do you believe this could be related to diabetes?
Answer:
Bruising in the manner you have described is not the primary symptom one sees with a new diagnosis of diabetes. Rather, the symptoms most specific to diabetes are the frequent urination, marked thirst, blurring of vision, and loss of weight. The recurrent bruising in her feet and joints may be related to a bleeding problem that should be evaluated by her physician.
JTL
