How to Prevent Diabetes (Part 1)
In Part 1 of this series, House Call Doctor explains the risks associated with diabetes and the tests your doctor will likely do to screen for this deadly disease.
Being diagnosed with diabetes can be very frightening. No one wants to find out that they have diabetes, and it can be stressful to learn that what we eat and how we live should be restricted – especially when we feel “just fine.” But, if you are diabetic or are at risk for developing diabetes, it’s really important to understand this disease and how to manage it. As a short synopsis, here are some of its potential complications:
- Heart disease (the number one killer of men and women in the US currently)
- Kidney disease and failure
- Vision loss
- Peripheral arterial disease
- Amputations
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It can really affect all of our organs and diminish our quality and quantity of life. This is why preventing diabetes is absolutely imperative, especially if you have a family history of diabetes and/or are diagnosed with a condition called “prediabetes.” It’s really in your best interest to find out how to prevent diabetes, and not just blame genetics and learn to accept living with prediabetes. You can reverse it at the prediabetes stage so that you are never diagnosed with diabetes in your life. Let’s find out how. Today, I’ll start by reviewing the definitions and diagnosis criteria for diabetes, and in the next episode we will address specific methods to prevent diabetes.
What is Prediabetes?
Before we define what “prediabetes” is, it’s important to learn what diabetes is. Our bodies and our cells need sugar, otherwise known as “glucose,” in order to function and survive. A hormone called “insulin” released from the pancreas helps sugar enter the cells in our body. If the pancreas doesn’t make enough insulin, or alternatively, if our cells don’t recognize and allow insulin to do its thing (a term we call “insulin resistance”), sugar builds up in our blood stream and doesn’t get metabolized correctly. This is what happens in diabetics.
In prediabetics, the same process may occur, but on a smaller scale so that glucose may build up, but not quite as much. Glucose levels are typically not high enough to meet criteria for diabetes, but on the other hand, they are not normal either. It’s really an in-between stage, which you can think of as a great big warning sign that you may be on your way to developing diabetes if you don’t stop it in its tracks or reverse it now. About 50% of prediabetics eventually develop diabetes.
Diagnosing Diabetes and Prediabetes
Most patients with diabetes have no symptoms at all! Therefore, if you are overweight, obese, or have a family history of diabetes, make sure to ask your doctor to screen you for diabetes. There are 4 ways in which patients can get screened:
- Random Blood Glucose: If you tell your doctor that you are experiencing symptoms of diabetes (such as thirst, blurry vision, or frequency of urination), they may order a “random blood glucose” level test. If that number comes in at 200 or more at any time of the day, this technically meets criteria for diagnosis of diabetes. The trouble is, most patients with diabetes have no symptoms at all. That is why we screen.
- Fasting Blood Glucose: The second way doctors can diagnose diabetes is to order a fasting blood sugar test (performed after at least 8 hours of not eating or drinking anything). Normal blood glucose is less than 100, prediabetes is between 100 and 125, and diabetes is 126 or higher. The problem with this test is that even diabetics can have a normal blood sugar levels at some moments, so doctors can miss the diagnosis for some patients depending on what day they catch the patient.
- Glucose Tolerance Test: You may have already experienced a “glucose tolerance test.” That’s when you have to drink that nasty-tasting, super-sweet liquid and then hang out for two hours to get your blood drawn – no fun at all. Blood glucose of 200 or more at the two hour mark is a diagnosis of diabetes, while a number between 140 and 199 reflects prediabetes. It’s still done with pregnant women as a one hour test to check for gestational diabetes, however for everyone else, it’s really an outdated method of screening that doctors don’t typically use any longer, thankfully.
- Hemoglobin A1C: Nowadays, this is really the most common and efficient way to screen someone for diabetes. It’s a simple blood test that reflects your blood glucose levels for the previous 3 months (so you don’t even need to be fasting for it). Normal is less than 5.7, prediabetes is between 5.7 and 6.4, and diabetes is 6.5 or higher. Simple, fast.
That’s all for today. Make sure to tune in next week to learn about the nutitional, fitness, and weight loss guidelines to help you prevent diabetes.
Do you suffer from diabetes or prediabetes? Share your experiences with us in Comments below or on the House Call Doctor’s Facebook and Twitter pages! If you have any suggestions for future topics you can email me at housecalldoctor@quickanddirtytips.comcreate new email. Hope you have a healthy week!
Please note that all content here is strictly for informational purposes only. This content does not substitute any medical advice, and does not replace any medical judgment or reasoning by your own personal health provider. Please always seek a licensed physician in your area regarding all health related questions and issues.
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About the Author
Dr. Sanaz Majd is a board-certified Family Medicine physician who graduated from Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia. Her special interests are women’s health and patient education.
