Prediabetes
Topic Overview
What is prediabetes?
Prediabetes is a warning sign that you are at risk for getting type 2 diabetes. It means that your blood sugar is higher than it should be. Most people who get type 2 diabetes have prediabetes first. The good news is that lifestyle changes may help you get your blood sugar back to normal and avoid or delay diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes is a lifelong disease that happens when the pancreas can't make enough insulin or when the body's tissues can't use insulin properly. Insulin is a hormone that helps the body’s cells use sugar (glucose) for energy. It also helps the body store extra sugar in muscle, fat, and liver cells.
Without insulin, the sugar cannot get into the cells to do its work. It stays in the blood instead. This can cause high blood sugar levels. A person has diabetes when the blood sugar stays too high too much of the time.
Over time, high blood sugar can cause serious problems with the eyes, heart, blood vessels, nerves, and kidneys. High blood sugar also makes a person more likely to get serious illnesses or infections.
What causes prediabetes?
Doctors do not know exactly what causes prediabetes. Experts believe people who are overweight, not physically active, or have a family history of diabetes are more likely to get prediabetes.
What are the symptoms?
Most people with prediabetes don't have any symptoms. But if you have prediabetes, you need to watch for signs of diabetes, such as:
- Feeling very thirsty.
- Urinating more often than usual.
- Feeling very hungry.
- Having blurred vision.
How is prediabetes diagnosed?
A health professional may diagnose prediabetes when fasting blood glucose (sugar) levels are between 6.1 and 6.9 millimoles per litre (mmol/L).
How is it treated?
The key to treating prediabetes and preventing type 2 diabetes is getting your blood sugar levels back to a normal range. You can do this by making some lifestyle changes.
- Make healthy food choices.
- Limit how much fat you eat and try to eat foods high in fibre.
- Try to eat about the same amount of carbohydrate at each meal. This helps keep your blood sugar steady. Carbohydrate affects blood sugar more than other nutrients. It is found in sugar and sweets, grains, fruit, starchy vegetables, and milk and yogourt.
- Talk to your doctor, a diabetes educator, or a dietitian about an eating plan that will work for you. There are many ways to manage how much and when you eat.
- Watch your weight. If you are overweight, losing just a small amount of weight may help.
- Be active. You can do moderate activity, vigorous activity, or both. Bit by bit, increase the amount you do every day. You may want to swim, bike, or do other activities. Walking is an easy way to get exercise.
- Include your family in your lifestyle changes. For example, take a family walk after dinner instead of watching TV. It will be easier for you if the rest of the family also eats well and gets regular exercise. This may also reduce the chance that other family members will get prediabetes.
Making these changes may help delay or prevent diabetes. You may also avoid or delay some of the serious problems that you can get when you have diabetes, such as heart attack, stroke and heart, eye, nerve, and kidney disease.
Some doctors may use medicine to control blood sugar in people with prediabetes. If your doctor prescribed medicine to help control your blood sugar, take it as prescribed.
Can prediabetes be prevented?
Staying at a healthy weight, eating healthy foods, and getting regular exercise can help prevent prediabetes.
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| Author: | Carrie Henley Robin Parks, MS | Last Updated: November 7, 2006 |
| Medical Review: | Caroline S. Rhoads, MD - Internal Medicine Tom Bailey, MD - Family Medicine Matthew I. Kim, MD - Endocrinology & Metabolism | |
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