What is Pre-Diabetes?

Pre-diabetes, in simple terms, is a precursor to full type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes develops when your blood glucose/sugar levels become extremely high due to a lack of insulin in your body. Pre-diabetes occurs when your blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be classified as type 2 diabetes. Unlike type 2 diabetes, pre-diabetes can be reversed by making positive lifestyle changes. Therefore, it is a critical stage because by making the right choices you can avoid type 2 diabetes completely.

The exact causes of pre-diabetes are not fully understood but it is linked to a number of risk factors. Some of these risk factors (such as age, family history and race) are beyond your control. However, a number of the risk factors (including inactivity and obesity) are within your control. By maintaining a healthy body weight and doing more exercise you can reduce your risk of reverse pre-diabetes and halt the development of type 2 diabetes.

The symptoms of pre-diabetes are similar to those of type 2 diabetes, although they may not be as noticeable. If you find yourself becoming increasingly hungry or thirsty, urinating more frequently or vomiting regularly you may have pre-diabetes and should go see your doctor. They will then be able to perform various tests (including the fasting plasma glucose test and the oral glucose tolerance test) which will confirm whether you have pre-diabetes or not.

If you are diagnosed with pre-diabetes then you should be thankful because you have been given a final chance to evade full type 2 diabetes. Your doctor will be able to give you further advice on the positive lifestyle changes you should make. One of these changes will be to improve your diet by eating smaller meals more regularly, consuming adequate levels of fibre and eating lots of fruits and vegetables. Another change will be to become more active by doing a little exercise each day with walking, cycling, swimming or participating in team sports all excellent choices.

By implementing the above lifestyle changes you can keep your weight under control, moderate your blood sugar levels, increase your body's sensitivity to insulin and most importantly prevent type 2 diabetes from developing. An increasing number of people around the world are contracting diabetes with the latest estimates suggesting that over 200 million people worldwide have diabetes. Acting on your pre-diabetes now will allow you to avoid becoming part of these constantly increasing numbers.

Whilst every intention has been made to make this article accurate and informative it is intended for general information only. Diabetes is a medical condition and this article is not intended as a substitute for the advice of your doctor or a qualified medical practitioner. If you have any concerns regarding pre-diabetes or diabetes you should seek the advice of your doctor immediately.