Helping Preventing Pre-Diabetes from Becoming Type 2 Diabetes

By Dr. Peggy Lampkin, MD

There are steps you can take to prevent pre-diabetes from becoming type 2 diabetes.

What is pre-diabetes? You can think of pre-diabetes as an early warning sign that you might be headed toward diabetes. The tell-tale sign is a blood test that shows your blood sugar (blood glucose) level is higher than normal (but not yet high enough to be considered diabetes). Pre-diabetes is an indication that you could develop type 2 diabetes if you don’t make some immediate and lasting life-style changes.

The good news is you can take steps to reduce your risks. The most obvious is taking a look at your food choices. By eating whole foods (minimally or unprocessed) foods, whole wheat vs. blanched white flour based products. By addressing overweight and staying at a healthy weight and committing to some physical activity, which can be a walk or two daily, which is enough to help you get your blood glucose level back into the normal range. That’s the key to assuring you avoid not only the onset of diabetes but all the related complications including, heart disease, vision loss, nerve damage and kidney failure.

The rate of pre-diabetes is growing. In fact more than 86 million adults over the age of 18 in the united states are estimated to have pre-diabetes. Based on CDC (Centers for Disease Control) children can have pre-diabetes too.

More importantly, there are no obvious symptoms or sign that you have pre-diabetes, so most people aren’t aware that they may have this increased risk for diabetes. What are the symptoms that suggest you may be heading toward diabetes?

Diabetes develops very gradually, so when you’re in the pre-diabetes stage, when your blood glucose level is higher than it should be, you may not have any signs or symptoms at all. You may however notice you’re hungrier than normal, you’re losing weight despite eating more, you’re thirstier than normal, and you have to go to the bathroom more frequently. You’re more tired than usual. All of these symptoms are associated with diabetes, so if you’re in the early stages of diabetes, you may notice them.

There are several risk factors that make it more likely you’ll develop pre-diabetes. These are the same risk factor to development of diabetes type 2. Weight, BMI of higher than 25, lack of physical activity, family history, hereditary factors, race and ethnicity (Asian American, African American, Hispanic, Native American) and also age. The older you are, the more at risk you are for developing pre-diabetes. At age 45, your risk starts to rise. After 65, your risk increases exponentially. Gestational diabetes can develop while you are pregnant, and that increases your risk for developing pre-diabetes later on.

Other health problems like high blood pressure (hypertension), high cholesterol (the bad LDL) increases your risk of getting type 2 diabetes, hypothyroidism, and polycystic ovary syndrome can lead to pre-diabetes to type 2. (A low thyroid hormone level could also increase your risk for pre-diabetes.) Thyroid hormone is crucial for our body metabolism and energy expenditure. Low thyroid hormone level associated with higher body mass index which is in turn an increased risk factor.

To diagnose pre-diabetes you can do a fasting plasma glucose test (if level is between 100-125 you have pre diabetes) or oral glucose tolerance test ( can’t eat for 8 hrs.).

Treatment is to evaluate your food choices, exercise, lose weight. You may have to be put on a drug called Metformin to keep your blood glucose level in a better range.