Prediabetes is a serious health condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough yet to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. You can have prediabetes for years but have no clear symptoms, so it often goes undetected until serious health problems such as Type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke show up. Approximately 88 million American adults—more than 1 in 3—have prediabetes. A staggering 84% of prediabetics don’t know they have it.
Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas that acts like a key to let blood sugar into cells for use as energy. If you have prediabetes, the cells in your body don’t respond normally to insulin. Your pancreas makes more insulin to try to get cells to respond. Eventually your pancreas can’t keep up, and your blood sugar rises, setting the stage for prediabetes—and type 2 diabetes down the road.
Risk factors for prediabetes
- 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
- diabetes during pregnancy
- giving birth to a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds
- Having polycystic ovary syndrome
- Race and ethnicity are also a factor: African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, American Indians, Pacific Islanders, and some Asian Americans are at higher risk
The good news is that if you have Pre-Diabetes you can make lifestyle changes to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes and other serious health problems.
With the help of simple blood test and history, our board certified Telemedicine Doctors can help you determine if you have prediabetes. Ask your doctor if you should be tested.
