Volume 1, Issue 6: June 2010
PREDIABETES
Prediabetes means that blood glucose (sugar) levels are high, but fortunately not high enough to be considered diabetes. It is a very common problem. In the U.S. 57 million people have prediabetes – many do not even know it. If left untreated, prediabetes will develop into type 2 diabetes about 25% of the time (1 out of 4) over 5 years. Also, there is growing evidence that some damage to the heart and blood vessels may already be occurring during the prediabetes stage.
If you have prediabetes, however, there is good news. With changes in diet and exercise, you can greatly reduce your risk of developing diabetes.
A recent research study showed this. In the study, half of the subjects with prediabetes were put on a healthy lifestyle that included a low-fat diet and 150 minutes of exercise each week. This healthy lifestyle group ended up with a modest weight loss of 7% over 6 months. This would be a 14 pound loss in someone who started at 200 pounds, for example. What the researchers found is that those in the healthy lifestyle group had a 50% lower chance of developing diabetes over the next two years! And this lower risk of diabetes was shown to continue even beyond two years in most cases.
How to find out if you have prediabetes
If you are overweight or have a family history of diabetes, you are at a higher than average risk for developing prediabetes. You should consider being tested for prediabetes with one of the following tests:
· A1C
Imagine sprinkling brown sugar over a bowl filled with balls of cookie dough. If you sprinkle a little sugar, a few of the dough balls get coated with sugar. If you sprinkle more sugar as the balls are moved around, more of the balls get coated. This is similar to what happens when sugar in the blood stream coats the main protein in your red blood cells (called hemoglobin). The A1C (glycosylated hemoglobin) is a measure of the percent of your hemoglobin that is coated with glucose. Since red blood cells live about 2-3 months, the A1C is determined by the average blood glucose over that period of time. For example, an A1C of 7% is equal to an average blood glucose level of about 150 over the prior 2-3 months. A normal value is considered to be 5.6% or less. 5.7-6.4% means that you have prediabetes, and 6.5% or higher means that you have diabetes.
· Fasting glucose
This is a measure of your blood glucose in the fasting state. “Fasting” means having nothing to eat or drink (except water and medicines) for 10 hours before the test. A fasting glucose of less than 100 (measured in milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl) is normal. 100-125 mg/dl is prediabetes, and over 125 mg/dl is diabetes.
· Glucose tolerance test
This is a more complicated test that involves getting a fasting blood glucose, then drinking a certain amount of sugar liquid, and then taking more measurements of your glucose. It is designed to see how high your blood sugar goes after meals.
The good news
If you have prediabetes, you can begin to lower your risk of developing diabetes today, by getting regular exercise, eating a healthy diet and keeping a healthy weight.
A healthy diet generally means lots of fruits and vegetables and whole grains, and avoiding fatty or deep-fried meats and too many saturated fats. Don’t eat a lot of simple sugars or foods with refined (not whole grain) flour.
And you don’t have to fight prediabetes alone.
We all learn and get support from others. Check with your healthcare system or provider to see what programs or groups are available near you. In addition, check out free resources like "My Pyramid" (www.mypyramid.com), or Sparkpeople (www.sparkpeople.com) for tools and resources on caloric intake, exercise, portion size and other topics.
Want to be informed and get the most out of your next checkup? See a complete prevention checklist for your age and gender at www.provenhealthways.com
Comments? Suggestions? Questions? Email us at info@provenhealthways.com
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