Many people are familiar with the medical condition called diabetes but haven’t paid attention to another silent killer. This silent medical condition is called PREDIABETES. This is a medical issue whereby your blood sugar level is higher than normal, but not high enough to be called diabetes (Type2 diabetes). In both prediabetes and diabetes, it is the problem of insulin – where your body doesn’t produce enough insulin or it stops responding to insulin as well as it should (known as insulin resistance), thereby making your blood sugar rise.
The work of insulin is to regulate the sugar level in the blood cells.
Other names for prediabetes include:
- Borderline diabetes.
- Hyperglycemia, which means “high blood sugar”.
- Glucose intolerance:
- Impaired glucose tolerance.
- Impaired fasting glucose.
Why is prediabetes dangerous?
Although not classified as diabetes, prediabetes can lead to full blown diabetes. The dangerous thing about prediabetes is you won’t necessarily notice any severe symptoms, meaning you can have it and not know it.
There is no reliable way to tell how fast you could progress from prediabetes to diabetes. It depends on your body, diet, level of activity, and the severity of disease.
How to know if you have Prediabetes or not ?
One reason many people don’t know that they are pre-diabetic and may be headed toward diabetes is they’ve never had their blood sugar tested. This is why no matter the age or good health status, it is important to periodically have your blood sugar level tested. Visit a clinic and have a blood sugar test today!
Possible Symptoms of Prediabetes
Although prediabetes doesn’t usually have particular signs or symptoms, person suffering from prediabetes would likely have similar symptoms like a diabetic patient. One possible sign is a darkened skin on certain parts of the body. Affected areas can include the neck, armpits and groin.
Some other signs may include increased thirst, increased hunger, frequent urination, weight gain and tiredness.
How to reverse prediabetes?
Prediabetes can be reversed as it isn’t yet diabetes. There are many things that can be done outside drugs which can reverse the condition. These include but not limited to:
- Cut sugar from your meal: avoid any diet that has sugar, especially refined sugar in them.
- Reduce your overall carbs intake.
- Get enough sleep
- Reduce stress level
- Exercise daily
- Eat lots of protein and fatty food e.g meat, egg, fish
- Eat twice a day: it is advisable to skip breakfast and eat dinner quite early.
- Do not snack on wheat based snacks like pastries, biscuits, etc.
Eating healthy foods, making physical activity part of your daily routine and staying at a healthy weight can help bring your blood sugar level back to normal.
Constant regular blood tests are also important to monitor the sugar level in the blood.
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