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Diabetes is a serious, chronic health condition. A diabetes diagnosis is for life.

Luckily, there are warning signs that, if heeded, help you avoid getting this disease. If your doctor diagnoses you with pre-diabetes, it is vital you understand the implications of this diagnosis.Pre-Diabetes Clancy Medical Group

More than one-third of Americans have pre-diabetes. This is a serious health condition that indicates chronically elevated blood sugar levels. Without making appropriate changes –to diet, incorporating more physical activity, and losing weight – you are at increased risk of developing diabetes. According to the CDC, between 15 and 30 percent of people diagnosed with pre-diabetes develop type 2 diabetes within five years.

What is Pre-Diabetes?

Pre-diabetes is typically considered an early stage of type 2 diabetes, where the patient may still have the ability to reduce the progression of the disease. It is marked by elevated blood sugar levels, also known as glucose levels, wherein the blood sugar is above the normal range but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes.

The risk of developing full-blown diabetes is elevated, even though many people with pre-diabetes have no symptoms of the condition.

Pre-Diabetes Symptoms are not Always Clear

Since many people with pre-diabetes display no symptoms of the disease, it often goes undiagnosed for years. For this reason, it is vital that you request blood sugar testing during your annual wellness visit.

In addition to a glucose test, there are other diabetes risk indicators. These include:

  • Excess weight: Obesity is a primary risk factor, as fatty tissue promotes cell resistance to insulin.
  • Age: Diabetes and pre-diabetes risk increases along with age, especially for those over age 45.
  • Family history: If a parent or sibling has diabetes, your risk of pre-diabetes rises.
  • Gestational diabetes: Women diagnosed with gestational diabetes during pregnancy have increased risk of diabetes, especially if the baby weighed over 9 pounds at birth.
  • Lack of activity: Physical activity not only helps you maintain a healthy weight, it also improves cells’ insulin sensitivity and burns glucose energy.
  • Large waist size: Women with waists larger than 35 inches and men larger than 40 inches have higher diabetes risk.
  • Polycystic ovary syndrome: This common condition increases diabetes risk for women.
  • Race: Certain races have higher instances of diabetes and pre-diabetes. These include African Americans, Asians, Hispanics, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders.
  • Sleep issues: Poor sleep quality, such as sleep apnea and those working variable shifts, often leads to increased diabetes and pre-diabetes risk.

Patients who demonstrate certain conditions in concert typically experience insulin resistance. If you are overweight, have high blood pressure, and have high bad cholesterol/low good cholesterol, you likely have increased resistance to insulin.

Testing for Pre-Diabetes

Physicians rely on three different blood tests to determine whether a patient has diabetes or pre-diabetes: the fasting plasma glucose test (FPG), the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), and the A1c test.

FPG measures blood glucose levels before the patient eats anything (hence the word “fasting” in the name). Normal levels register below 100 mg/dl. If you test above 125 mg/dl, you have diabetes. A number between 100 and 125 indicates pre-diabetes.

OGTT is used less commonly than FPG, though it may still be used when testing a pregnant woman for gestational diabetes. It’s a two-step process, where the patient provides a fasting blood sample, then drinks a beverage with a high glucose count. Two hours later, a second blood test is taken.

For the second blood test, normal blood glucose in an OGTT test is under 140 mg/dl, pre-diabetes is indicated for scores between 140 and 199 mg/dl, and diabetes is diagnosed for scores above 200 mg/dl.

The A1c test indicates the levels of glucose adhering to hemoglobin over the previous three months. This measures glucose control, and normal levels are 5.6 percent or lower. Over 6.5% indicates diabetes, while numbers between those two extremes indicated pre-diabetes.

The Role of Insulin

Though researchers still don’t know the exact cause of pre-diabetes, they do understand that people with the condition no longer process sugar properly.

Your body needs glucose, as it works to fuel cells within tissues such as muscles. Your body takes glucose from the carbohydrates in the food you eat (not just sugary-tasting foods such as soda and candy). As you digest your food, sugar enters your bloodstream. At the same time, your pancreas secretes insulin into your bloodstream. Insulin helps transport glucose from your bloodstream and into surrounding cells, lowering sugar levels in the blood. Lower blood sugar levels tell your pancreas to stop secreting insulin.

This is the process when everything is working properly. In patients with pre-diabetes, sugar instead builds up in the bloodstream, either because your cells have grown resistant to insulin or because your pancreas no longer makes enough (or possibly both).

Your Chance to Make Changes

A pre-diabetes diagnosis is your opportunity to make changes before receiving a forever diagnosis of diabetes. Modest weight loss helps reduce risk, as does increased physical activity.

Moderate exercise is an ideal preventive measure. Your goal is 30 minutes per day, five days per week of aerobic activity. This includes brisk walking, dancing, swimming, and bicycling. If exercising for 30 minutes at a time is a challenge, start with either three 10-minute sessions per day or two 15-minute sessions.

In addition, look at your diet. Instead of focusing on cutting out “bad” foods, such as processed foods and those high in fat or sugar, look at adding the “good” foods. This might look like an extra serving of vegetables in each meal, or a piece of fruit during snack times.

If you receive a pre-diabetes diagnosis, talk to your doctor about healthy changes you can make today.