Can Diabetes be the cause of my yeast infection?
Good day there, Eric Bakker, naturopath, author of Candida Crusher. This is our frequently asked question series.
I have diabetes, Eric. Is this the reason I got a yeast infection?
Well, it could well be. As you know, we call diabetes a blood sugar problem. So there are two types of diabetes, but the common one which many people come to me with is Type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetics can generally take medicines to regulate their blood sugar and providing they eat the right food and look after their body weight, they can usually keep it at bay.
Type 1 diabetes, however, is insulin dependent and an auto-immune disease. It’s a different ball game we’re talking about. I’m referring to Type 2 diabetes here.
So diabetics can increase or have a higher amount of glucose output in their urine, and this can predispose many people toward vaginal yeast infections or females to vaginal yeast infections. So, this is something that you need to bear in mind. If you get recurring vaginal infection and you’re a diabetic, you need to get your blood sugar sorted properly. There are different blood tests you can do to determine whether you’ve got a problem short term or long term, so you want to best talk to your doctor about these particular tests. Make sure you’ve got your blood sugar under control if you want to prevent these further outbreaks.
But I have also seen diabetics with skin manifestations of yeast infections around the armpits, in the groin, around the feet area, and this also can be due to a higher blood glucose level and we know that Candida yeast infections feed on sugar. So if you’ve got continually high blood sugar, if you’ve got high urinary output of glucose, you can certainly predispose yourself to manifestations of yeast infection if you’ve got diabetes.
So this could be a reason. And I’ve also seen some diabetics actually being diagnosed with diabetes after the doctor discovered they had a chronic vaginal yeast infection which led to blood testing. So that’s another thing you may want to think about.
So to answer your question again, is my diabetes the reason I’ve got a yeast infection? It could well be. Get yourself checked out. I hope that answers your question.