Taming Type 2 Diabetes

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I’ve been kind of harping on how easy it is to be unaware that you have diabetes and yet how important it is to diagnose it as early as possible in order to treat it and avoid complications. Well, in addition to looking for the symptoms of type 2, there’s something else you can look for: Prediabetes.

“Prediabetes – or “impaired glucose tolerance” – is a condition with no symptoms. It means that your blood sugar level is higher than normal, but it’s not yet high enough to be classified as type 2 diabetes. People almost always have pre-diabetes before they develop type 2 diabetes, and there are over 50 million people in the U.S who have pre-diabetes.

If you think you might be one of them, you can begin by asking yourself some questions:

• Are you over 45 years of age?
• Do you have a family history of diabetes?
• Are you overweight (especially around the abdomen)?
• Do you belong to a high risk ethnic group (e.g., African-American, Native American, Latino, Asian American/Pacific Islander)?
• Do you have a history of gestational diabetes or have you delivered a baby that weighed more than 9 pounds?
• Do you have polycystic ovary syndrome?
• Do you have high cholesterol, high triglycerides, low good ‘HDL’ cholesterol and a high bad ‘LDL’ cholesterol?
• Are you inactive?

If you answer positively to any of these questions or experience

• unusual thirst,
• a frequent need to urinate,
• blurred vision, or
• extreme fatigue,

you should discuss your concern with your doctor.

If he decides you do need to be tested, there are two different tests he can use: The fasting plasma glucose test (FPG) or the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). During the FPG blood test your blood sugar level is measured after you’ve fasted for 8 hours. This results of this test can determine if your body is metabolizing glucose correctly. If your blood sugar level is abnormal after the FPG test, you could have “impaired fasting glucose,” and that means you might have prediabetes.

Don’t panic. Even if you do find out you have pre-diabetes, don’t assume it will automatically develop into diabetes. In fact, consider yourself lucky because prediabetes can be an opportunity for you to improve your health. Improving your health could slow, or even stop, your prediabetes from becoming type 2 diabetes. By switching to a healthier diet, increasing your physical activity, and maintaining a healthy weight, you can bring your blood sugar level back to where it should be.