These two skin conditions may tell you more about your risk of diabetes than about your make up.
If you develop acanthosis nigricans and skin tags, the odds of you developing Type II diabetes goes up dramatically.
Acanthosis nigricans can also occur in some rare cases as a sign of a cancerous tumor in the stomach, liver or internal organ.
Now while not every Type II diabetic is going to develop these conditions, you need to take action if it suddenly appears if you have no family history of it.
Acanthosis nigricans means the skin will be marked by thickened, velvety skin in body folds and creases — typically in your armpits, groin and back of the neck. The skin changes usually appear slowly. The affected skin may also have an odor or itch.
The sudden appearance of the skin condition can be used as a screening tool for diabetes according to one study.
When it appears upon the neck, these are highly indicative of Type II diabetes.
Skin tags are small growths on the skin. They look like they are small stalks growing up from the skin.
These occur because the pancreas is not making enough insulin or the body is not utilizing it as well as it should.
A 2007 study showed that skin tags were another marker of Type II diabetes.
Medically, both skin tags and acanthosis nigricans are harmless by themselves, but the disease it signals can be deadly. That’s why you should not ignore the signs.
An A1C test and fasting insulin test should be done as soon as possible.
Thankfully Type II diabetes can be controlled with diet. Many have found that a ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting (limiting the number of meals per day) drive down the body’s need to produce insulin which reduces weight and blood sugars.
Type I diabetes also known as Juvenile Diabetes occurs when the pancreas doesn’t produce insulin. As a result, the body doesn’t utilize any food for energy or fat storage.
Type II diabetes is an epidemic today caused by overproduction of insulin, which many believe is a result of too much sugar in the diet, as well as carbohydrates and the constant snacking that most Americans engage in.
Limiting the number of feedings to one or two per day gives the pancreas and liver a rest. Fat does not spike insulin levels in the blood as much as carbohydrates, so the combination of low carb and intermittent fasting can stop any need for added insulin.
In other words, while there is no known cure for Type II diabetes, controlling insulin production by the body can stop the need for adding medicines and stop the damage the disease does to your heart, liver, kidneys and brain.
Again, while these two skin conditions might be unsightly, they are not considered major health problems, but are signaling that other areas of your health need to be checked.
The reason why diabetes may affect your skin health is it deals with the high level of glucose in the blood and how circulation gets impaired.
This actually is a scary proposition, because the symptoms showing up on your skin should tell you that problems associated with Type II diabetes are already happening in your body, so this important signal should not be ignored.
Some additional things to look out for is a decreased sensitivity to pain, new sensitivity to temperature (things are now too hot or too cold), or even affecting your ability to sweat.
If you start noticing changes in your skin health, start thinking about getting your blood work checked for diabetes.
