About 54 million Americans have high enough blood sugar levels that they’re in serious danger of developing Type 2 diabetes and heart disease, federal health data show.
But treating pre-diabetes can prevent those health risks, according to the American Diabetes Association.
The first step you should take after being diagnosed with pre-diabetes is to ask your doctor your exact blood glucose test results, according to the ADA.
Pre-diabetes increases a person’s risk for developing Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. Most people with pre-diabetes are told by their healthcare providers that they have either:
- Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) – a blood glucose reading between 140 and 199 mg/dl two hours after an oral glucose tolerance test
- Impaired fasting glucose (IFG) – a fasting plasma blood glucose reading between 100 and 125 mg/dl
If your glucose test results fall in those ranges, it’s time to get to work, according to the ADA. Their recommendations:
- Work with your physician or a registered dietitian to determine a weight loss plan.
- Increase your physical activity to at least 30 minutes per day. Sometimes, just taking a walk on your lunch hour can do the trick.
- Get a cholesterol test, and if your numbers aren’t where they should be, talk to your doctor about how get your bad (LDL) and good (HDL) cholesterol levels into the healthy range. For some people, that might require medication.
Who should be screened for pre-diabetes?
People who should be screened for pre-diabetes include overweight adults age 45 and older and those under age 45 who are overweight along with one or more of the following issues:
- Habitually physically inactive
- Previous diagnosis of IFG or IGT
- Family history of diabetes
- Member of certain ethnic groups (including Asian American, African-American, Hispanic American, and Native American)
- History of gestational diabetes or have given birth to a child weighing more than 9 pounds
- High blood pressure
- HDL (“good”) cholesterol level of 35 mg/dl or lower and/or triglyceride level of 250 mg/dl or higher
- Polycystic ovary syndrome
- History of vascular disease
