Watch Your Breath: It Could Be A Symptom Of Type 2 Diabetes

Type 2 diabetes manifests itself through various symptoms. Sometimes though, the symptoms seem like regular occurrences that you wouldn’t even mind them. For instance, there is a certain sign of type 2 diabetes that could be found on your breath. You just have to know what to look for.

Diabetes Can Be the Culprit

According to Express, a stinky breath, bad breath or “halitosis,” has often been associated with diabetes. While the most common cause of bad breath is the plaque buildup in the mouth, health conditions like diabetes have also been pinpointed as a possible culprit that could cause that awful-smelling breath.

An explanation made by diabetes.co.uk revealed that those with diabetes have high blood sugar levels. This, in turn, increases the glucose levels in the mouth, particularly in the saliva. Because of this high glucose levels in the saliva, bacteria now have a lot of food to feast on. With tons of bacteria, dental plaque buildup becomes an inevitable consequence.

Health experts say that when you have diabetes, your body experiences ketoacidosis. This is a process by which the body would burn fat instead of burning glucose. This could also happen if the blood has too little insulin or if the body’s insulin resistance is too high. Because of this, ketones start forming as a waste product, leading to the awful smell on the breath.

Medications Can Be Blamed Too

In other instances, the medicines that you take could also cause bad breath. There are people who reportedly noticed bad breath when they took metformin. As per the advice of health experts, when you are taking metformin, and you notice that you have bad breath, better contact your medical practitioner. Try to ask if there are alternative medications that will not lead to bad breath.

This does not mean that when you have bad breath, you are automatically diabetic. Diabetes is just one of the possible causes. Other causes of bad breath include crash diets, spicy foods, and even strong-smelling foods. Smoking and tonsillitis can lead to halitosis as well. Other patients point to acid reflux as a possible cause of diabetes.