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Prediabetes

What is Prediabetes?

In prediabetes, the body is not able to use insulin effectively, leading to high levels of glucose (sugar) in the blood.

Overview

Prediabetes is often a precursor to type 2 diabetes, which is a chronic condition in which the body is unable to produce or use insulin effectively. However, with lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, increasing physical activity, and adopting a healthy diet, prediabetes can often be reversed, and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes can be significantly reduced.

What are the complications that Prediabetes will lead to?

Without treatment, prediabetes can become type 2 diabetes or cause other serious problems including:

Kidney Disease
Blindness
High Blood Pressure
Nerve Problems (Peripheral Neuropathy)
Loss of a Limb (Amputation)

Signs & Symptoms

If you experience symptoms, you may observe that:

You’re a lot thirstier than usual

Frequent Urination

Blurry Vision

Tiredness

Prediabetes Causes and Risk Factors

You’re more likely to get prediabetes if you:

Are older, especially over age 45
Have a waist that is greater than 40 inches in circumference for men and 35 inches in circumference for women
Consume a lot of red and processed meat, sugary drinks, and little to no fruit, vegetables, nuts, whole grains, or extra virgin olive oil
Have excess weight, especially in your midsection (belly fat), making you overweight or obese
Have high cholesterol, high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, and high LDL cholesterol
No physical activity
Experienced gestational diabetes before or gave birth to a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds.
Have polycystic ovary syndrome
Have a sleep problem, like sleep apnea, or work changing shifts or night shifts

How to prevent Prediabetes?

Exercising and eating foods low in carbohydrates, sugars, fats, and salt can also help prevent prediabetes. Other tips include:

Don’t smoke.
Don’t have more than one alcoholic drink a day.
Take blood sugar medications as your doctor prescribes.

Children and Prediabetes Testing

Doctors diagnose prediabetes based on the same blood sugar levels, no matter the person’s age. According to the American Diabetes Association Children who are 10 or older and are overweight or obese, should be checked including the following:

A family member with type 2 diabetes
A mother who had gestational diabetes while pregnant with the child

Signs of insulin resistance or conditions linked to it, such as a low birth weight, high blood pressure, or polycystic ovary syndrome

If a child who has a high chance of getting prediabetes has normal test results, the American Diabetes Association advises testing them again at least every 3 years.

Tests and Diagnosis for Prediabetes

Fasting Plasma glucose test

Fasting of 8 hours is required, to take your blood to test sugar levels.

The results are following:

If your blood sugar is less than 100 mg/dL, it is considered to be normal
If your blood sugar is between 100 and 125 mg/dL, you may have prediabetes
If it is 126 mg/dL or higher, you may have diabetes

Oral glucose tolerance test

You will first have a fasting plasma glucose test. Then sip on something sweet. After 2 hours more blood will be drawn for further test

The results are:

Normal if your blood sugar after the second test is less than 140 mg/dL
Prediabetes if your blood sugar after the second test ranges from 140 to 199 mg/dL
Diabetes if your blood sugar after the second test is 200 mg/dL or above

Hemoglobin A1c test

Your average blood sugar levels for the previous two to three months are revealed by this blood test. Diabetes patients are given it by doctors to check on how well their blood sugar levels are managed. It can also be used to identify diabetes or prediabetes.

The results are: