Do You Know If You Have Prediabetes?

Do you know if you have prediabetes? The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports 115.2 million adults in the U.S. have prediabetes and 8 in 10 adults with prediabetes don’t know they have it. Prediabetes is a growing health concern not only in the U.S. but also around the globe.

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Prediabetes is a precursor to type 2 diabetes. However, having prediabetes does not mean you will automatically develop type 2 diabetes. Taking action early can help reduce your risk of developing permanent type 2 diabetes.

How Is Prediabetes Diagnosed?

Prediabetes is diagnosed with blood tests. Three commonly used tests are:

• A fasting blood glucose test

• An oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT)

• A hemoglobin A1C test

The A1C test is reported as a percentage and provides an estimate of your blood glucose level over the past two to three months. The fasting blood glucose and an OGTT reflect your blood glucose number at that moment in time when your blood is drawn.

Your test results will fall into one of three categories:

Normal, prediabetes, or diabetes, depending on your result.

What Are the Blood Sugar Numbers for Prediabetes?

Knowing your blood sugar numbers is important because you may have prediabetes and not know it. Prediabetes can often be present without experiencing any noticeable symptoms.

The American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the medical community in general, describes the blood glucose levels below are indicators of having prediabetes:

• Fasting blood glucose: 100–125 mg/dL

• Two-hour oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT): 140–199 mg/dL

• Hemoglobin A1C: 5.7%–6.4%

If you receive a test result in the prediabetes range, talk with your doctor or other qualified, licensed healthcare professional about what your results mean and whether additional testing is needed.

What Are the Risk Factors for Prediabetes?

The risk factors for prediabetes are the same as for type 2 diabetes.

They include:

• Overweight and obesity

• Older age, particularly age 45 and older (but younger people can develop it too)

• Genetic predisposition or a family history of diabetes

• An unhealthy diet (sweetened sodas & drinks, junk foods, red & processed meat)

• Physical inactivity (sedentary lifestyle)

• Having certain current or previous health conditions such as metabolic syndrome

• Gestational diabetes (women who had GDM while pregnant are at an increased risk)

Having risk factors does not necessarily mean that you have prediabetes. Blood glucose testing is an important way to find out if your blood glucose levels are in the normal, prediabetes, or diabetes range.

What Should You Do If You Have Prediabetes?

Prediabetes is an important warning sign to make lifestyle changes now before you progress to permanent type 2 diabetes. Simple habits such as eating healthier, increasing your physical activity, getting more sleep, reducing stress and losing 7 to 10 % of your weight, can help lower your blood sugar and reduce your risk of progressing to type 2 diabetes. Whether you have prediabetes or diabetes, you can read about five proven ways to control your blood glucose naturally, with simple daily which I shared in my last blog post here.

If you're looking for additional support, consider asking your doctor or other healthcare professional about the National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP). You can find a program here on the CDC’s website.

The National DPP includes a structured lifestyle-change program that focuses on making healthy lifestyle choices.

Research from the original Diabetes Prevention Program found that making the recomended lifestyle changes, reduced the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58%. And for people age 60 and older, the risk reduction was even greater at 71%. These numbers are encouraging news for anyone with prediabetes.

Know Your Blood Glucose Numbers

It’s important to know your blood glucose levels and understand what your numbers mean.

If you have risk factors for prediabetes, talk with your physician or other licensed healthcare professional about whether you should be tested.

And if you already know that you have prediabetes, don’t ignore it. Learning your numbers and making healthy lifestyle changes can greatly reduce your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

Know your numbers. Know your risk. Act now.

*This article is for educational purposes and is not intended to replace individualized medical advice. Always talk with your personal physician and healthcare team for questions and concerns about your health.