Diabetes isn’t always easy to detect. According to the NHS, symptoms of the blood sugar condition often tend to be general, or reluctant to rear their ugly heads, leaving many patients in the dark.
Despite this, an expert has outlined a red flag sign on your skin that could mean you’re headed towards the condition.
Kate Hilton, Clinical Dietitian at FeelGut.co.uk, explained that identifying this warning sign and making lifestyle changes is crucial so you can prevent developing full-blown diabetes.
She recommended looking at your skin for the first clue. Velvet-like patches on your neck, armpits and groin could ring alarm bells.
Discolouration in certain areas of your body doesn’t always mean you’re dirty. According to Hilton, one of the causes behind this could be acanthosis nigricans.
She told Express.co.uk: “Acanthosis nigricans, is a condition that causes dark, velvet-like patches to develop on the skin.
“It can be a sign of prediabetes, which increases your risk of developing diabetes.”
Prediabetes means that your blood sugar levels are higher than usual, but not high enough for you to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
Worryingly, this means that you’re at a higher risk of developing the blood sugar condition. Therefore, Hilton stressed the importance of picking up acanthosis nigricans.
“Identifying the symptoms of acanthosis nigricans and making lifestyle and diet adjustments before diabetes develops is essential to help prevent it,” she said.
While the discolouration can appear anywhere on your body, the most common areas include the neck, armpits and groin, according to the expert.
She essentially advised scanning places where the skin folds for this sign of prediabetes.
Furthermore, the hyperpigmentation has poorly defined borders and may also include thickening of the skin.
Some of the common causes behind acanthosis nigricans include diabetes, insulin resistance and being overweight, which also increases your risk of developing diabetes.