What Is Prediabetes?

 

Prediabetes is a serious health condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough yet to be diagnosed as a type 2 diabetes. Approximately 88 million American adults—more than 1 in 3—have prediabetes. Of those with prediabetes, more than 84% don’t know they have it. Prediabetes puts you at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.

What Causes Prediabetes?

Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas that acts like a key to let blood sugar into cells for use as energy. If you have prediabetes, the cells in your body don’t respond normally to insulin. Your pancreas makes more insulin to try to get cells to respond. Eventually, your pancreas can’t keep up, and your blood sugar rises, setting the stage for prediabetes—and type 2 diabetes down the road.

 

Signs & Symptoms

You can have prediabetes for years but have no clear symptoms, so it often goes undetected until serious health problems such as type 2 diabetes show up. It’s important to talk to your doctor about getting your blood sugar tested if you have any of the risk factors for prediabetes, which include: 

 

• Being overweight
• Being 45 years or older
• Having a parent, brother, or sister with type 2 diabetes
• Being physically active less than 3 times a week
• Ever having gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy) or giving birth to a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds
• Having polycystic ovary syndrome

Race and ethnicity are also a factor: African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, American Indians, Pacific Islanders, and some Asian Americans are at higher risk.

How to Stop Prediabetes in Its Tracks

1. Get Tested

Not everyone with prediabetes will develop type 2 diabetes, but everyone with prediabetes is at higher-than-normal risk. So talk to your healthcare provider about determining your own risk and getting a simple blood test for diabetes screening. If necessary, find out what steps you should take right now to avoid or delay the development of type 2 diabetes and related medical conditions.

 2. Change Your Diet

If you have prediabetes, you can reduce your risk of developing more serious conditions by eating better and losing any excess weight. Eating better means choosing more healthful foods: fresh veggies and fruit; lean protein sources, including fish and plant options like lentils and beans; healthful fats like extra virgin olive oil, avocado, nuts and seeds; and smaller portions of fibre-rich whole grains and root vegetables. Eat a wide variety of these foods to broaden your nutrient intake and balance your meals. It's also important to eat regularly scheduled meals and snacks, to avoid extreme blood sugar highs and lows throughout the day.

 3. Reduce Toxic Stress Levels

Researchers have found that while short-term psychological stress can actually be good for you, chronic stress suppresses your immune system and could increase your risk of developing type 2 diabetes by altering your insulin needs. In some people, chronic stress may also trigger a cascade of hormonal events that increase appetite. While it’s not always possible to eliminate your source of stress, coping techniques, such as yoga, meditation, reading and writing poetry, counselling, or exercise, can help reduce overbearing pressure before it makes you sick.

 4. Get Moving

When you’re at risk of developing diabetes, too much TV time or other time spent in sedentary activities increases your risk even more. Regular exercise can help you manage your weight, reduce high blood pressure and blood fats, sleep better, improve your mood, and boost your energy levels, all of which can also help alleviate stress. The ADA recommends 30 minutes of moderate-to-vigorous aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, stair climbing or jogging, at least 5 days a week, and strength training, such as callisthenics or weight training, at least twice a week.

 

5. Take Your Meds

In many cases, lifestyle changes such as improved diet, stress reduction, increased physical activity, and weight management will help you control your blood sugar and prevent prediabetes from turning into diabetes. But if you are obese, under 60 years old, or have a history of gestational diabetes, your healthcare provider may recommend oral medication, such as metformin, as the first best step toward managing your condition. If you feel you would benefit from medication, ask your doctor if you are a candidate.

https://www.webmd.com/

https://www.health.com/