What is “pre-diabetes?” Part 1

Pre-diabetes is medical terminology that is used to describe the condition that occurs when an individual’s blood glucose levels are persistently higher than normal but not high enough for a diagnosis of diabetes. Most individuals have no idea they may have prediabetes. The condition is generally identified from blood work that was supposedly done for some other medical disorder.

Individuals with prediabetes may have elevated blood glucose levels as determined by a blood glucose meter, but formal testing is required to determine how the severe the prediabetes is.

Testing in these individuals usually reveals elevated fasting glucose or impaired glucose tolerance - both of which are a high risk factor for 2 diabetes. In general, many individuals who have prediabetes, will develop type 2 diabetes within a period of 5-10 years. Once prediabetes has been identified, it is highly recommended that the individual change his or her lifestyle to prevent full blown diabetes from occurring.

Solid evidence from the Diabetes Prevention Program indicates that individuals who have been diagnosed with prediabetes can delay or prevent the onset of Type 2 diabetes though modest changes in their lifestyle. Thus, current recommendations for health care professionals are to screen for Prediabetes in high risk individuals.

Criteria for identifying individuals with Prediabetes are:

Identifying individuals at risk for diabetes include the following:

Age: The risk of pre-diabetes increases with age.

- Age 45 or older and overweight
- Age 45 or older without any other risk factors
- Younger than 45, overweight.