According to medical experts, more than fifty million Americans have the condition often referred to as prediabetes.
This is the condition between normal health and diabetes.
In other words, it is a warning sign telling you that you don't have diabetes yet, but if you continue with the health habits your currently have, your odds of getting diabetes are very high.
To determine if you have pre-diabetes, your doctor will give you a fasting blood glucose test.
In this test the doctor will have you fast through the night.
Then, in the morning before eating, he will take a sample of your blood.
To avoid false positives, you may have to take this test two or three times over a number of weeks.
If the overall average of your blood sugar is between 100 to 125 mg/dl, you will probably be diagnosed as having pre-diabetes.
If your blood sugar level is more than 125 mg/dl then, unfortunately, you are considered to have diabetes.
If left untreated, prediabetes can lead to either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes.
In most cases, however, the condition leads to Type 2.
Fortunately, this is a condition that can be reversed, if caught soon enough.
The term prediabetes is a relatively new term that has only been around for about ten years.
Prior to that, a person with this condition was generally referred to as having borderline diabetes, impaired fasting glucose, or impaired glucose tolerance.
These other terms were gradually dropped from the medical lexicon because they did not define the condition well enough.
So, assuming that you have been diagnosed with prediabetes, if you don't change your habits, how long can you expect before you develop full blown diabetes.
Of course, there is no exact estimate as it depends on how far along you are with the condition before it is diagnosed.
But, the rough estimate is that you have a maximum of ten years to change your dietary and exercise habits before it's too late.
You might be asking is there any harm to having your blood sugar in these pre-diabetic ranges other than the fear of developing the full blown disease? And the answer is, even in this stage, you have almost twice the chance of having a heart attack or a stroke than a person without these symptoms.
If you have pre-diabetes, and you want to be around for a while, this should be a wake up call to change your lifestyle today.
This is the condition between normal health and diabetes.
In other words, it is a warning sign telling you that you don't have diabetes yet, but if you continue with the health habits your currently have, your odds of getting diabetes are very high.
To determine if you have pre-diabetes, your doctor will give you a fasting blood glucose test.
In this test the doctor will have you fast through the night.
Then, in the morning before eating, he will take a sample of your blood.
To avoid false positives, you may have to take this test two or three times over a number of weeks.
If the overall average of your blood sugar is between 100 to 125 mg/dl, you will probably be diagnosed as having pre-diabetes.
If your blood sugar level is more than 125 mg/dl then, unfortunately, you are considered to have diabetes.
If left untreated, prediabetes can lead to either Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes.
In most cases, however, the condition leads to Type 2.
Fortunately, this is a condition that can be reversed, if caught soon enough.
The term prediabetes is a relatively new term that has only been around for about ten years.
Prior to that, a person with this condition was generally referred to as having borderline diabetes, impaired fasting glucose, or impaired glucose tolerance.
These other terms were gradually dropped from the medical lexicon because they did not define the condition well enough.
So, assuming that you have been diagnosed with prediabetes, if you don't change your habits, how long can you expect before you develop full blown diabetes.
Of course, there is no exact estimate as it depends on how far along you are with the condition before it is diagnosed.
But, the rough estimate is that you have a maximum of ten years to change your dietary and exercise habits before it's too late.
You might be asking is there any harm to having your blood sugar in these pre-diabetic ranges other than the fear of developing the full blown disease? And the answer is, even in this stage, you have almost twice the chance of having a heart attack or a stroke than a person without these symptoms.
If you have pre-diabetes, and you want to be around for a while, this should be a wake up call to change your lifestyle today.
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