Expert shows overlooked sign of killer condition surging in under 50s

If the skin on your legs, feet and toes is starting to look bald and ‘patchy’ it might be the first signs you’ve developed a life-threatening disease, an expert has warned.

Hair loss on your legs and toes can be a tell-tale sign of diabetes, which can lead to debilitating and uncomfortable complications.

US-based diabetes expert Kenneth Harless says that hair loss on the lower limbs and extremities can be a sign of diabetic neuropathy, which is when the disease damages nerve cells. 

Numbness in the hands and feet is one of the most common signs of the disease, which affects 5.8million Britons and 38.4million Americans.

In a video posted on TikTok to his more than 180,000 followers, he explained: ‘It takes strong circulation to get that blood all the way to those capillaries in the hair in your toes and feet.’

He continued: ‘When your body develops insulin resistance (it) damages circulation patterns all the way to the nerves and the blood vessels at the hair follicle base.

‘This will cut off nutrients to your skin and hair follicles (causing hair loss). 

So, he warned: ‘The higher the diabetic neuropathy the person had, the more loss of hair on their distal (the part farthest from the centre of the body) feet and toes.’

His claim is backed up by a 2019 study of 107 patients, which found hair loss as a reliable indicator of nerve damage due to the disease.

Other symptoms he said may appear after the hair loss include brain fog, wound healing issues, vision loss, and kidney damage.

The diabetes expert, who has suffered from insulin resistance himself, now shares tips to overcome blood sugar, cholesterol and belly fat issues on social media.

It comes as the number of people in the UK suffering from diabetes has reached a record high—especially in the under 50s.  

Diagnoses among the under-40s rose by 23 per cent between 2016/17 and 2020/21 but by 18 per cent among those aged 40 and over.

Almost 4.3million people were living with diabetes in 2021/22, according to the latest figures for the UK. 

There are now around 3.78million people living with type 2 diabetes in the UK, of which 148,344 are under 40.

There are two types of diabetes. Type 1 is an autoimmune disease diagnosed from birth, while type 2 is when the body struggles to produce enough insulin later in life

If you experience any of these symptoms, you should make an appointment with your GP who can arrange a blood test to check how high your blood sugar levels are.

Type 2 diabetes can damage your blood vessels, causing potentially fatal complications like coronary heart disease and stroke.

The leading causes of type two diabetes are lifestyle factors like a poor diet, obesity and a lack of exercise. 

Other symptoms of type 2 diabetes are increased thirst and urination, excessive hunger, fatigue, and losing weight without trying to.

In some cases, people will be diagnosed with prediabetes—which is when your blood sugar levels are high, but not yet enough to be diagnosed with the condition.

The main treatment is to make lifestyle changes such as eating a diet rich in fruit, vegetables, wholegrain foods and pulses like lentils.

However, some people who need medication may be offered metformin, which lowers the amount of glucose (sugar) in their blood.

In a bid to tackle the obesity crisis in the UK, the government recently allowed GPs to prescribe weight loss medications.

This includes Mounjaro, which has long been hailed toe ‘King Kong’ of slimming jabs, despite initially being developed as a diabetes medication.

Earlier this year, US researchers found those on the injections typically lost a fifth of their body weight in just over a year.

However, in recent weeks there has been growing concern over the side effects of the ‘quick fix’ medications.

Last month, the UK’s drug watchdog found weight loss jabs were potentially linked to more than a hundred deaths.

A total of 111 deaths were logged with the regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), up to and including May 29. 

None of the fatalities, which have all been reported since the jabs were licensed for use in the UK, are proven to have been caused directly by the drugs.

However, health chiefs tasked with policing the safety of medicines admitted reports of side effects indicate ‘a suspicion’ they may have been to blame.