Prediabetes is a health condition when blood glucose levels are higher than usual but below the threshold for a diagnosis of diabetes. Most people with prediabetes have no symptoms; if they do, signs are often subtle. According to the National Diabetes Statistics Report, 96 million people in the United States have prediabetes. More than 8 in 10 adults with prediabetes don’t know they have it. Prediabetes is a serious condition affecting millions worldwide, but it's often overlooked and dismissed as "not that bad." Prediabetes is a warning sign that something needs to change in our lifestyle and can be reversed with lifestyle modifications.
If you have prediabetes, your blood sugar is higher than usual but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. However, prediabetes dramatically increases the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and other serious health problems such as heart disease and stroke. Prediabetes is type 2 diabetes in its earliest stage, a cue that shouldn't be dismissed or taken lightly. You can be living with prediabetes for years with no apparent symptoms. Most often, people in this phase can go undetected this illness until serious health problems such as type 2 diabetes show up. The good news is that prediabetes is reversible! Simple lifestyle changes such as eating a healthy diet, exercising regularly, and maintaining a healthy weight can lower your blood sugar and reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Prediabetes Risk Factors:
An unhealthy diet high in sugar and processed foods raises your blood pressure and increases your insufficient cholesterol level.
If you are overweight, you are at a higher risk for developing prediabetes. This is especially true if you carry too much weight in your abdomen.
Prediabetes has a hereditary factor. If someone in your family has or has had type 2 diabetes, you are more likely to develop prediabetes, though this is often more a result of shared circumstances and learned behaviors than genes.
The older you are, the more you are at risk. At age 45, your likelihood of developing prediabetes rises, so check your blood sugar during your medical appointments.
Smoking increases the sensitivity of your cells to insulin, which raises the glucose in your blood.
Symptoms of prediabetes are excessive thirst and unceasing hunger, frequent urination, feeling tired after a meal, numbness or tingling in the feet or hands, slow wound healing, blurry vision, fatigue, and lack of energy. If you have any of these signs or notice them, check your blood sugar to see if you have any risk factors for type 2 diabetes. Type 2 Diabetes occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin (insulin opens our body cells to allow glucose to be used as energy), and glucose starts to build in our liver stores and bloodstream and can eventually be stored as fat.
Here are a few things you need to know about how type 2 diabetes may impact your body:
High blood sugar levels can lead to damage to brain function and cognition.
Diabetes can increase the risk of thrush, gingivitis, bad breath, and plaque.
High blood sugar levels can lead to nerve damage in the feet.
Persistently high blood sugars may damage the small blood vessels of the eyes and impact your vision.
People with diabetes have an increased risk of heart disease. High blood sugar can damage the blood vessels of your heart.
Uncontrolled diabetes can impact how food moves through the digestive tract.
Uncontrolled blood sugar levels may lead to kidney damage.
For more information about type 2 diabetes prevention, please call AMA Medical Center at (781) 581-6181 or contact us online. Schedule your consultation with the best doctors in Lynn, MA!
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