Pre-diabetes

Pre-diabetes is a condition in which your blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but has not reached a level where it can be classified as diabetes. Though the cause of pre-diabetes is not very clear, it is an indication that sugar breakdown is not normal in your body; hence, there is an accumulation of sugar in the blood stream. Some of the risk factors that may contribute to pre-diabetes are overweight, inactivity, advanced age, race, familial history, irregular sleep and gestational diabetes.

Pre-diabetes usually does not show any evident symptoms, however sometimes you may have symptoms such as darkening of the skin, frequent urination, fatigue, blurred vision and increased thirst. This condition is traditionally diagnosed using various blood tests which include:

• Fasting blood sugar test: calculates blood sugar level after fasting overnight
• Oral glucose tolerance test: measures blood sugar level after fasting overnight and 2 hours after having a sugar-rich solution
• Glycated hemoglobin test: calculates average blood sugar level of 2 to 3 months

At Healthy Living Dallas we are aware that by the time that fasting blood sugar or glycated hemoglobin levels are elevated pre-diabetes is often far progressed. By testing these, along with more than 10 tests that test the function of the pancreas cells (which help control blood sugar by producing insulin) as well as how resistant your body is to insulin we can identify pre-diabetes well before your blood sugar control has been affected.

Pre-diabetes can be prevented and/or treated by following a healthy lifestyle, eating healthy foods high in fiber and low on fats and calories, losing weight, taking medications to control blood glucose levels, and increasing physical activity. The chances of pre-diabetes converting into diabetes are high. So following these methods, gives you an opportunity to delay or lower the risk of developing diabetes.