Knowing the major symptoms of diabetes can save your life. Many medical studies show that detecting diabetes symptoms early, and treating them, can significantly decrease the chance that you will develop complications from the disease.

Diabetes is a serious problem in the United States. According to the American Diabetes Association, 23.6 million children and adults in the country – which equals 7.8 percent of the popular – have diabetes.

Even worse, many people are not diagnosed with the disease early enough. The American Diabetes Association reports that while about 17.9 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with diabetes, about 5.7 million more people have the disease but are unaware of it.

Not treating diabetes can have serious consequences, even fatal ones. That’s why it is so important to recognize the symptoms of diabetes and begin treatment of the disease as soon as possible. Adding to the problem is the fact that so many of the symptoms of adult diabetes seem harmless, and thus are mostly ignored.

Some of the more common diabetes symptoms include frequent urination, excessively high levels of thirst and extreme hunger. You may also notice an unusual weight loss that isn’t connected to diet or exercise.

Other diabetes symptoms include increased fatigue, higher levels of irritability and bouts of blurry vision.

Again, some of these symptoms are difficult to detect. Who, after all, doesn’t get irritated, hungry, thirsty or tired at times? But if you notice these symptoms recurring at an alarming rate, you may want to schedule an appointment with your physician.

You may be tempted to ignore these symptoms of diabetes. But that would be a mistake. The American Diabetes Association says that diabetes is the fifth-deadliest disease in the United States. According to the association, diabetes contributed to 233,619 deaths in 2005.

In fact, since 1987, the death rate resulting from diabetes has increased by 45 percent. At the same time, the death rates due to other serious diseases such as heart disease, stroke and cancer have all dropped.

Part of the problem is that people don’t often recognize the symptoms of adult diabetes. They may not become aware that they have the disease until they develop one of its more serious complications. These include heart disease and stroke, blindness, kidney disease, high blood pressure, nervous system damage and sexual dysfunction.

If you do recognize any of the symptoms of diabetes in yourself, don’t panic. But do take the symptoms seriously. The best advice is to call a doctor and schedule an appointment. You don’t want to ignore a disease that can be so dangerous.