Are you diabetic? Does your body emanate bad breath which it has never done before? Do not worry. You are not the only one experiencing something of this sort. The high level of blood glucose combined with many complications in diabetes tends to cause body odor in the patients. In this article, we shall analyze the reasons and the relationship between diabetes and body odor.

Join in for the article Body Odor and Diabetes: Does Diabetes Cause Body Odor?”

What is Diabetes Body Odor?

Diabetes body odor refers to the sudden change of smell that you experience due to diabetes. There are several reasons why diabetes might lead to bad odor in the patients.

There are two main types of sweat one of which could be responsible for the bad body odor in a diabetes patient. One of these sweats is called eccrine which is essentially odorless and is mainly responsible for controlling the temperature of the body. The second of these sweats is known as the apocrine. This is the sweat you generally get under your armpits and is secreted by the apocrine gland. This is the one which is mainly responsible for producing bad odor as when it gets hit by bacteria, there is an unpleasant smell that is emitted. The following paragraph explains in detail the causes of bad odor in diabetes patients.

Causes of Body Odor in Diabetes

There are several reasons and ways in which diabetes can cause body odor in the patients. These reasons and causes of the same are explained in the following points:

• People with diabetes are known to be affected by a number of complications in the body. One such complication is the infection that can be caused in the urinary tract of the patient. This may very much lead to a fruity smell in the diabetes patients.
• Another reason for the bad odor could be the high levels of ketones that usually accumulate in the body of the patient. In diabetes, the hormone insulin fails to function appropriately and as a result, our cells do not receive the right amount of glucose needed to give them enough energy. Hence, our body, instead of burning glucose, start burning a large amount of fat. This gives rise to what is known as the accumulation of ketones in the body, particularly in our blood as well as urine. The ketones cause bad odor in the following different ways:
• One of the ketones named as acetone makes the breath to smell like what we know as nail polish.
• There could be chances that your body emanates a fruity and sweet-smelling odor.
• There are various ways in which you can understand that your body has too many ketones and that you have developed a dangerous situation called diabetic ketoacidos is. Some of the symptoms of the same include:
• High levels of blood glucose in the body.
• The above-mentioned fruity odor.
• Difficulty in breathing normally.
• Vomiting and nausea
• Abdominal pain.
• Sometimes, diabetes might even cause bad breath and bad odor due to the improper management of the condition. People tend to ignore hygiene and as a result, their body smells.
• Besides, there could be hereditary causes leading to the bad odor.
• It is a well-known fact that the people suffering from diabetes could have complications related to several gum diseases, such as gingivitis. Periodontal diseases are also quite common in patients suffering from diabetes as well. Let us see how diabetes and these complications can cause bad odor in the patients:
• Diabetes increases the level of blood glucose in the mouth, thereby causing bacteria and several possible infections which could eventually lead to bad breath.
• Besides, diabetes is also known to harm and eventually damage the different types of blood vessels in our body. As a result, the smooth supply of blood to different body parts, including the gums is disrupted. Thus, in response to this, our gums become really weak and more infections can be caused. When you are diabetic, the body’s ability to fight such infections reduces. All this, in turn, lead to bad breath in the patients.
• On the other hand, if a person really suffers from continuous bad breath, it might be a strong sign that he or she is suffering from any of the gum related diseases.

Thus, as is clear from the above paragraph, both diabetes and bad breath are related to one another wherein diabetes leads to bad breath and vice versa also holds true.

How to Manage Bad Breath Caused by Diabetes?

No one likes to have a bad breath or carry a bad body odor. The same can be managed with a few simple guidelines. Following are a few tips that need to be followed:

• Ensure that you are brushing your teeth twice daily and that your teeth are clean at all times
• Keep your mouth moist throughout the day by drinking water regularly. However, try to keep your body dry to the maximum possible extent by using a body powder as that will keep sweat and bacteria away.
• Avoid smoking
• Consult your doctor and use appropriate deodorants under the armpits that will help to fight the foul smell
• Chew mints and gums that are sugar-free
• Keep monitoring the levels of your blood glucose
• Use anti bacteria soap to maintain a good hygiene
• Pay regular visits to your dentist
• Finally, if the smell is regular, you should not avoid it and paying a visit to the doctor is a must.

As is clear from the above post, diabetes and bad odor are very much related to one another. It is important to remember that bad breath and bad odor could be a sign of some serious condition and as such, you need to be really careful while dealing with the same. The amount of precaution that you need to take to avoid an embarrassing experience of this sort further increases if you suffer from a condition like diabetes.