What is pre-diabetes? How to identify pre-diabetes?

What is pre-diabetes? Prediabetes can cause complications and affect health if not well controlled. Find out here.

What is pre-diabetes? Glucose intolerance that causes blood sugar to rise is called pre-diabetes. What are the risk factors for prediabetes?

What is pre-diabetes?

Pre-diabetes is the result between impaired insulin production and insulin resistance. Individuals with impaired glucose tolerance are at increased risk for conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular diseases such as peripheral artery disease or stroke.

However, if detected and treated early, it is possible to prevent or slow the development of diabetes and heart disease. Lifestyle changes that include eating a healthy diet, losing weight if you're overweight, and exercising regularly are the most effective treatments.

What is pre-diabetes?

How to determine standard pre-diabetes

To identify prediabetes, tests to evaluate glucose tolerance and HbA1c should be performed. Blood glucose testing is done twice, once in the morning after a night of no food and once after two hours of drinking a glucose solution used specifically for glucose tolerance testing.

In the case of normal people, blood sugar after two hours of drinking is usually lower than 7.8mmol/L (140mg/dL). If blood sugar two hours after taking is between 7.8 and 11mmol/L (140 to 199mg/dL), it is considered prediabetes. If blood sugar after two hours is higher or equal to 11mmol/L (200mg/dL), it is diagnosed as diabetes.

Get tested to diagnose pre-diabetes

According to the World Health Organization, a person is considered to have impaired glucose tolerance when:

• Fasting blood sugar less than 7mmol/L.
• The blood sugar after a 2-hour glucose tolerance test is between 7.8mmol/L and 11.1mmol/L.
• An HbA1c level of 42 - 47mmol/mol (equivalent to 6.0 - 6.5%) is also recommended by the World Health Organization as an indicator of a high risk of diabetes.
• In addition, it is also important to pay attention to the fasting blood sugar disorder, when the blood sugar index is between 5.1 mmol/L - 7mmol/L after a night of fasting.

What are the risks for prediabetes?

Here are the risk factors that can lead to prediabetes that you need to be concerned about:

• Overweight or obese .
• Lack of physical activity.
• Other factors such as hypertension or dyslipidemia.
• Polycystic ovary syndrome , gestational diabetes.
• In the past, a family member had diabetes.

Being overweight or obese can also lead to pre-diabetes

Recognizing and controlling these risk factors can help prevent diabetes.

What are the measures to treat and prevent prediabetes?

There is growing evidence that it is possible to prevent prediabetes from progressing to diabetes. Therefore, it is important to determine if you have pre-diabetes and to choose the appropriate treatment to minimize potential health complications. Currently, there are two main approaches to treating prediabetes: lifestyle changes and medication.

Lifestyle change

Lifestyle changes to prevent prediabetes from turning into diabetes are the most effective measures before starting medication. To do this, the following measures can be taken:

• Lose weight if you are overweight: If you are overweight or obese, losing weight will help lower blood sugar levels and have health benefits. Weight loss should start with diet and regular physical activity.
• A healthy balanced diet: The right diet will vary from person to person. For a healthy diet, you can consult your doctor or nutritionist. However, a lot of fat, saturated fat , and salt should be avoided and should be high in fiber, fruits and vegetables.

Healthy eating reduces risk of pre-diabetes

• Physical activity: Exercise at least 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week. Choose a suitable physical activity and do it regularly to reduce your risk of heart disease or stroke.
• Change other bad habits: Stop smoking , limit alcoholic beverages such as wine, beer, check blood pressure and cholesterol regularly.

In addition, it should be noted that taking the above measures requires consultation with a doctor to ensure safety and effectiveness.

Apply drug treatments

Drug treatments that have been tested for people with impaired glucose tolerance include the use of metformin, acarbose, and antihypertensives.

• Metformin has been used in the treatment of type 2 diabetes for more than 50 years and is the drug of first choice in the treatment of this condition. The drug works to lower blood sugar by reducing glucose production in the liver and reducing insulin resistance. The drug does not cause hypoglycemia or weight gain.
• Acarbose slows the absorption of carbohydrates in the intestines and is used alone or in combination with other hypoglycemic drugs in the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Acarbose is used in people with impaired glucose tolerance to prevent progression. develop type 2 diabetes.
• For people with impaired glucose tolerance and type 2 diabetes, the use of medications to control blood pressure is important to reduce damage to blood vessels and slow the progression of diabetes. blood pressure and its complications. 

Applying drug therapy for pre-diabetes

Performing a fasting blood sugar test at least once a year is necessary if prediabetes has been diagnosed.

Hope the information shared above has answered the question " What is pre-diabetes ?" your. According to research, about 50% of people with prediabetes will develop diabetes within 5 to 10 years. Treating prediabetes is not as complicated as many people think. Just follow the doctor's instructions and pay attention to your health, the treatment process will achieve the expected effect.