by Emma Lions

Created on: August 12, 2011

What is Pre-Diabetes?

You may have heard the term ‘pre-diabetes’ recently and are wondering what it is. In very simple terms, pre-diabetes occurs when your fasting blood glucose levels (sometimes referred to as casual blood glucose levels) are higher than the normal range limits for someone without diabetes but are not quite high enough for your doctor to be able to diagnose you as having diabetes. So what does all this mean and how do you know if you have pre-diabetes?

Diagnosing Pre-Diabetes

Just like diabetes, pre-diabetes is usually diagnosed by a Glucose Tolerance Test. A Glucose Tolerance Test is a specific test used to determine how your body responds to consuming glucose and is the best way to medical professionals to diagnose diabetes or pre-diabetes.

When you have a Glucose Tolerance Test, your doctor will receive a list of figures which will then determine if you are non-diabetic, pre-diabetic, or diabetic. The current blood glucose levels to determine this are as follows:

Fasting Levels

2 hours post glucose test

Normal levels (non-diabetic

<100mg/dl or <5.5mmol/l

<140mg/dl or <7.7mmol/l

Pre-diabetes range

100-125mg/dl or

5.5-6.9mmol/l

140-199ml/dl or

7.7-11.0mmol/l

Diabetes range

>125mg/dl or

>6.9mmol/l

>200mg/dl or

>11.1mmol/l

Reducing your risk of Pre-Diabetes

Like Type 2 diabetes, it is possible to reduce your risk of pre-diabetes simply by making some lifestyle changes. The good news is that these lifestyle changes don’t need to be difficult and will not only reduce your risk of pre-diabetes or Type 2 diabetes but will also improve your general health.

Exercise and physical active plays a big role in improving your health and reducing your risk of lifestyle diseases such as diabetes. Ideally you want to try to do at least 30-45 minutes of exercise per day. This can be anything from walking, cycling, and swimming to gardening, weight training or even bowling. Best of all this doesn’t need to be done all in one go. Even three lots of 10 minutes will help and can be the best approach if you are new to exercise.

It goes without saying that healthy eating is a must if you are trying to reduce your risk of diabetes or pre-diabetes. Once again, the changes don’t need to be too dramatic (unless of course you never touch a piece of fruit or a vegetable). Simply eat smaller serves of your regular meals (including less healthy foods such as ice cream), reduce the amounts of processed food you eat, and eat more fresh food every day. This will not only improve your health but will help you to lose weight if needed (being overweight is a risk factor for diabetes).

Think of pre-diabetes as a warning for what may come if you continue your current lifestyle. Generally a diagnosis of pre-diabetes will be treated with diet and exercise and it’s not unable you develop diabetes that you may need medication. If you can make the necessary lifestyle changes early you can reduce your risk of either diabetes or pre-diabetes for a long time to come.

References

2011 National Centre for Chronic Disease and Health Promotion. The National Diabetes Fact Sheet 2011.

www.diabetes.org/diabetes-basics/prevention/pr

Learn more about this author, Emma Lions.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.