Prediabetes is when your blood sugar level is higher than it should be but not high enough for your doctor to diagnose diabetes. They might call it impaired fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance.
People with type 2 diabetes almost always had prediabetes first. But it doesn’t usually cause symptoms. Prediabetes treatment can prevent more serious health problems, including type 2 diabetes and problems with your heart, blood vessels, eyes, and kidneys.
prediabetes symptoms
- Thirstier than usual
- hungrier than usual
- you pee a lot
- vision is blurred
- tired than usual
causes of prediabetes
- Are older, especially over age 45
- Have a waist larger than 40 inches around if you’re a man and 35 inches around if you’re a woman.
- Eat a lot of red and processed meat, drink sugary beverages, and don’t eat much fruit, veggies, nuts, whole grains, or olive oil
- Are overweight or obese, especially if you have extra pounds around your middle (belly fat)
- Have high cholesterol, high triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, and high LDL cholesterol
- Don’t exercise
Treatment to Reverse Prediabetes
- Take these steps to treat prediabetes:
- Eat a healthy diet and lose weight. Losing even 5% to 10% of your weight can make a huge difference.
- Exercise, Pick something you enjoy, like walking. Try to get at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. You can start with less time and work your way up to a half-hour if you need to. Check with your doctor before you do more than that.
- Stop smoking.
- Get your blood pressure and cholesterol under control.
- Take medication like metformin (Glucophage) to lower your blood sugar if you’re at high risk of diabetes.
