Prediabetes: Are you at Risk?

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@BlackhawkLivingCA

By Judi Magee, Resident since 2014

Happy New Year! I know the topic of diabetes doesn’t spring to mind when making New Year’s Resolutions, but maybe it should. Being prediabetes means that your blood sugar level is higher than normal but not yet high enough to be type 2 diabetes. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention states, “Approximately 84 million American adults—more than 1 out of 3—have prediabetes. Of those with prediabetes, 90% don’t know they have it. Prediabetes puts you at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke.”

So what is Prediabetes? What we eat or drink is broken down into sugar (glucose) that our cells need for energy and is transported throughout the body through the bloodstream. Moving glucose from the bloodstream to our cells requires the help of insulin that is secreted from the pancreas. As insulin circulates, it allows glucose to enter your cells — and lowers the amount of glucose in your bloodstream. As your blood sugar level drops, so does the secretion of insulin from your pancreas.

Prediabetes marks a change in how glucose is processed in the body. Instead of entering the cells, your pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin or your cells become resistant to the action of insulin, or both, and glucose builds up in the blood instead of moving into the cells. When high levels of glucose stay in the bloodstream, it deprives cells of energy and over time can do damage to your eyes, kidneys, nerves or heart.

What are the Risk Factors? It’s important to talk to your doctor about getting your blood sugar tested if you have any of the risk factors for prediabetes, which include:

• Being overweight

• Being 45 years or older

• Having a parent, brother, or sister with type 2 diabetes

• Being physically active less than 3 times a week

• Ever having gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy) or giving birth to a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds

Lifestyle Changes Prediabetes is real. It’s common. And most importantly, it’s reversible. You can prevent or delay prediabetes from developing into type 2 diabetes with simple, proven lifestyle changes.

The CDC recommends; if you have prediabetes, losing a small amount of weight if you’re overweight and getting regular physical activity can lower your risk for developing type 2 diabetes. A small amount of weight loss means around 5% to 7% of your body weight, just 10 to 14 pounds for a 200-pound person. Regular physical activity means getting at least 150 minutes a week of brisk walking or a similar activity. That’s just 30 minutes a day, five days a week.

Have you added diabetes prevention to your New Year Resolution list? It’s certainly worth thinking about.

Wishing you Good Health this New Year,

Judi Magee National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach with a Masters in Health and Wellness Coaching from Maryland University of Integrative Health.