Understanding Prediabetes

Understanding Prediabetes

India is home to the second largest number of diabetes cases (73 million in 2017), with over half of the people currently living with diabetes in the country estimated to be undiagnosed. Since Type2Diabetes Mellitis (T2DM) is currently incurable, a common treatment approach is to try to control the disease with lifelong use of antidiabetes drugs.

One of the alternative approaches to prevent development of T2DM is to intervene with the prediabetic population before disease progresses into fully developed T2DM. This involves timely identification of prediabetic individuals and provision of preventive treatment before the disease fully progresses giving the diabetes-prone population a chance to halt the disease progression and maintain a normal healthy life.

You are lucky that you are aware of Prediabetes

Understand what differentiates Prediabetes from full Diabetes.

In medical terms, Prediabetes is known as either “impaired glucose tolerance” or “impaired fasting glucose”. It is a condition where the level of glucose in the blood is higher than its normal limit, but is not high enough to qualify as diabetes proper.

Individuals diagnosed with Prediabetes are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes and are at an increased risk of developing heart disease. However, the good news is that Prediabetes can be reversed if the affected individual shifts to a healthier lifestyle.

To confirm a diagnosis of Prediabetes, your doctor will perform a blood glucose test. If your Fasting blood glucose level is between 100-125 mg/dl and after an oral glucose tolerance test it is between140 -199 mg/dl you are in the Prediabetic range.

People with diabetes usually have a fasting blood sugar of 126 mg/dl or greater. However, this diagnosis can only be confirmed if the same result is achieved in two separate tests.