Prediabetes
What is prediabetes
This is a situation where your blood sugars are more than normal, but not crossed the levels to classify as diabetes mellitus. This condition is a forerunner to evolved diabetes.
Criteria for Diagnosis of Pre-diabetes
Impaired fasting glucose (IFG): 100 – 125 mg/dl(Fasting plasma glucose) and/or
Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT): 140 – 199 mg/dl(2-hr post 75g glucose challenge)
Risk factors of Prediabetes
- Being overweight or obese
- Lack of exercise
- Family history of type 2 diabetes
- Age 45 years or older (but younger people, including children and adolescents are now at risk)
- Race (rates of diabetes are higher in certain races)
- Gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy) or giving birth to a baby weighing more than 4 kilograms
What to do if you have prediabetes
If you have pre-diabetes, make lifestyle changes to reduce the chance that you will get full-blown diabetes.
Measures for this are :
- Lose weightLosing 5 to 10 percent of your body weight can reduce your risk significantly.
- Dietary modificationsChoose a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy products, but low in meats, sweets, and refined
- Regular ExercisesAny exercise will help to reduce weight and help to reduce blood sugars
- Quit smokingSmoking increases risk of complications of diabetes, hence we need to reduce the complication risk by quitting diabetes