Prediabetes doesn’t have to become full-blown diabetes. With healthy lifestyle changes, one can bring their blood sugar back to normal levels.

Signs and symptoms of prediabetes are similar to that of type 2 diabetes, but it might also carry no visible signs at all. Possible symptoms are: excessive thirst, frequent urination, constant hunger, unexplained weight loss or weight gain, flu-like symptoms including weakness and fatigue, blurred vision, slow healing, numbness or tingling of the extremities, or recurring infections of the gums, skin, bladder, etc.

Pre- and type 2-diabetes is caused by a fault in your body’s system for regulating the amount of glucose (sugar) in the blood. Your liver stores and releases glucose into the blood as needed, and your pancreas secretes insulin. Insulin is the chemical that allows your cells to absorb glucose from the blood, so they can use it for energy. Prediabetes, and type 2 diabetes, occurs when the body’s cells become resistant to insulin, leading to high blood-sugar levels. The exact reason that cells become resistant to insulin is unknown, but excess bodyweight and fatty tissue is thought to play a role.

Risk factors for developing prediabetes are the same as those for type 2 diabetes and are as follows:

• Weight, especially excess fat concentrated around the abdomen.
• Inactivity.
• Family history. Type 2 diabetes tends to run in families.
• Age. The risk of diabetes increases with age, especially after age 45. But younger Americans are developing the condition in increasing numbers.
• Race. For unknown reasons, the rate of diabetes is double for blacks and Hispanics than in the general US population, and is even higher in Native Americans.
• Gestational diabetes. If you developed gestational diabetes when you were pregnant, your risk of type 2 diabetes is increased. Your rate is also increased if you gave birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds.

The two biggest risk factors are also the most controllable: weight and activity level. By living a healthy lifestyle, one can decrease their risk of developing prediabetes, or help prevent prediabetes from developing into type 2 diabetes.

The American Diabetes Association recommends blood glucose screening for everyone starting at age 45, but if you are overweight with one or more additional risk factors, you should ask your doctor about earlier testing.

Copyright © 2009 By Ben Greene (Associate Writer)

      

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