High blood sugar from diabetes can affect the body’s immune system, impairing the ability of white blood cells to come to the site of an infection, stay in the infected area, and kill microorganisms. Because of the build-up of plaque in blood vessels associated with diabetes, areas of infection may receive a poor blood supply, further lowering the body’s ability to fight infections and heal wounds. Infections caused by having high blood sugars include vaginal, yeast, bladder and skin.
More than 50 percent of women will have a urinary tract infection (UTI) at some point in their lives, said Uristat.
The health site continued: “Women with type 2 diabetes may be at an even higher risk of UTI.
“Diabetes patients can have a harder time fighting infection and are already at risk for kidney damage, which can become worse if the infection spreads.”
According to the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI), patients with type 2 diabetes experience more frequent and more severe UTIs.
They also tend to have worse outcomes: the UTIs in diabetes patients are more often caused by resistant pathogens, meaning the infections are more difficult to treat.
People with type 2 diabetes people are more prone to getting certain conditions, particualry skin issues and infections.
These include diabetic dermopathy, necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum, and eruptive xanthomatosis, said Cleveland Clinic.
The health site added: “Many people with diabetes will have a skin disorder caused or affected by diabetes at some time in their lives.”
In some cases, skin problems can be the first sign that a person has diabetes.
Yeast feeds off of sugar and if a person’s type 2 diabetes isn’t well-controlled, their blood sugar levels can spike to unreasonably high levels.
This increase in sugar can cause yeast to overgrow, particularly in the vaginal area.
The body may develop a yeast infection in response.
It is therefore imperative for a person to maintain their blood sugar levels which may help reduce the risk of infections.
