Could You Have Pre-Diabetes?
The total number of people with diabetes in the UK currently stands at 2.6 million.
Pre-diabetes doesn't appear out of the blue. Diabetes UK explain that:
Many people with prediabetes are overweight or obese at diagnosis and 90 per cent will either have a family history of prediabetes or have high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
(Seven million in UK have 'prediabetes' )
Other risk factors for pre-diabetes include:
- Polycystic ovary syndrome or previous gestational diabetes in women
- Severe mental health problems
The good news is that, unlike diabetes, prediabetes can be reversed. Making healthy changes to your diet and lifestyle can prevent you from ever developing diabetes - even if you are in a high-risk group. This includes:
- Taking regular exercise
- Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight
- Eating a healthy diet and being cautious about your sugar intake
And don't think you're safe if you're not in the UK - America has an even higher percentage of pre-diabetics, according to Diabetes UK:
In the US prediabetes affects more than 56 million people, around 18 per cent of the population compared to around 15 per cent in the UK.
The charity are calling on the government to screen people for signs of pre-diabetes, and are asking health professionals to clearly communicate the risks to patients.
Written By Ali Hale on Oct 20, 2009
America is a sick nation, getting sicker and sicker.
ReplyPre-diabetes is a little like high blood pressure in that people are often unaware they have it. The damage done to the body is very real. However, for both silent conditions being overweight is a big risk factor. It all seems to come back to keeping a healthy weight to avoid illness.
ReplyMy dad has/had prediabetes according to the fasting blood glucose test and the next time he went in for a blood sugar test, he didn't drink caffeine beforehand and didn't eat any simple carbs for his last meal before the fast started and the number was WAY lower. Sometimes those fasting blood glucose tests aren't 100% accurate, especially if you eat something sugary before the fast starts or if you drink a lot of caffeine during the fasting time. Still though, I'm sure that a lot of people are truly prediabetic and don't realize it until they are full-blown diabetic and have already done some damage to their systems.
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