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What Is Prediabetes?
Prediabetes is a condition that comes before type 2 diabetes. It means that blood glucose (GLOO-kos) levels are higher than normal but aren’t high enough to be called diabetes. As we become older, or less active, or gain weight, we are more at risk for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. People can have prediabetes and not know it.
If you have prediabetes, it means:
• you might get type 2 diabetes sometime soon or further down the road.
• you are more likely to get heart disease or have a stroke.
The good news is that you can take steps to delay or prevent type 2 diabetes with:
• weight loss
• regular physical activity, such as walking almost every day
A study called the Diabetes Prevention Program showed that these steps helped most people delay or prevent type 2 diabetes. Losing weight and being active worked well for people of all ages.
Weight loss can delay or prevent type 2 diabetes. Reaching a healthy weight can help you a lot. If you’re overweight, any weight loss, even 10 or 15 pounds, will lower your chances of getting type 2 diabetes.
Losing extra weight helped people in the Diabetes Prevention Program delay or prevent type 2 diabetes. People in the study lost an average of 15 pounds in the first year of the study. How did they do it? They ate fewer calories and less fat. And they exercised most days of the week. In fact, many walked about 150 minutes a week.
Being active almost every day is another one of the best ways to delay or prevent type 2 diabetes. You can lower your chances of getting type 2 diabetes by adding physical activity to your daily routine. Even if you have heart disease or other problems, you can still be more active. Work with your health care team to find out which physical activities are safe for you.
As we all know, losing weight and getting active can be hard. And sticking with it can be even harder. The American Diabetes Association suggests an ongoing support group and counseling to help. Diabetes medicines may be added if you’re at high risk for getting type 2.
It helps to keep track of the progress you’re making with eating and walking. Write down everything you eat and drink for a week. Writing things down makes you more aware of what you’re eating and helps with weight loss. You can keep track of your walking by wearing a pedometer on your belt. A pedometer is a small device that tells you how many steps you’ve taken. Or you can keep track of your walking or other activity by writing it down for a week. At the end of the week, total up the minutes you’ve been active to see how you’re doing.
If you have prediabetes, you may suspect that someone you love has prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. At their next doctor visit, ask them to get their blood glucose checked if they are:
• 45 or older
• Under 45, but overweight and have one or more of these risk factors:
♦ They have a close family member, like a parent, brother, or sister, with diabetes.
♦ They are:
◊ African American
◊ Native American
◊ Asian American
◊ Pacific Islander
◊ Hispanic American (Latino)
♦ They’ve had a baby weighing more than nine pounds or they’ve had gestational (jess-TAY-shuhn-uhl) diabetes. Gestational diabetes is diabetes first found during pregnancy that is not type 1 or type 2.
♦ They have high blood pressure (over 140/90) or are taking a blood pressure medication.
♦ They have low HDL cholesterol, the good cholesterol (35 or lower).
♦ They have high triglycerides (250 or higher).
Small steps lead to big rewards. Taking small steps to change the way you eat and increase your activity can delay or prevent type 2 diabetes. Decide how you’ll reduce your calories to lose weight. Think about what you’re willing and able to do to be more active almost every day.
Type 2 diabetes is a serious disease. If you delay or prevent it, you’ll enjoy better health in the long run. Feeling good and having energy are keys to living the good life.
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Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes: What’s the Difference?
There are many types of diabetes, but the two most common are type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Diabetes means that your blood glucose is too high.
Everyone’s blood has some sugar in it because your body needs sugar for energy. Our brain can only work if it has blood glucose. But too much glucose in your blood—too much sugar—can mean you have diabetes. Normally, your body breaks food down into glucose and sends it into your bloodstream. Then your pancreas (PAN-kree-us) makes a hormone called insulin (IN-suh-lin). Insulin’s job is to help get the glucose from the blood into your body’s cells, where it can be used for energy. Insulin helps keep blood glucose in a normal range.
In type 1 diabetes, the pancreas makes little or no insulin. People with type 1 diabetes get insulin from a shot or a pump to keep their blood glucose in their target range. Most people with type 1 diabetes take two to four shots a day or use an insulin pump. Old names for type 1 diabetes are juvenile-onset diabetes or insulin-dependent diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is not as common as type 2 diabetes.
People with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes still make insulin. But their pancreas may not be making enough, or their body may not be using it the right way. People with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes can manage their condition by watching what they eat, by being more active, and sometimes by taking diabetes medicines. Old names for type 2 diabetes are “maturity-onset diabetes” or “adult-onset diabetes,” but now kids are getting type 2. Type 2 diabetes is the most common type of diabetes.
Kids who are overweight and aren’t active are more likely to get prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. So are kids who have a family member with diabetes. Some racial and ethnic groups have a greater risk of getting diabetes: Native Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans (Latinos), Asian Americans, and Pacific Islanders.
Today everyone knows someone who has diabetes. It may be a family member, like your mother, your aunt, or your child. Or it may be a coworker or good friend. When I worked for the American Diabetes Association, I always carried my American Diabetes Association work bag when I traveled on an airplane. Every single time, someone on the plane would talk to me about diabetes. They talked about their grandchild’s diabetes, about their brother’s diabetes, or about their own diabetes.
Diabetes is serious, and more people are getting it. By taking care of your diabetes and showing others how to do it, you may prevent people you love from getting diabetes. You can be a role model for people around you.
People with type 1 or type 2 diabetes do some of the same things to care for their diabetes. They watch what they eat, they are active, and they check their blood glucose levels using a meter. But we’ll learn more about all of that in later chapters in this book.
Blood Sugar vs. Blood Glucose
You may have heard people talk about their sugar when they talk about diabetes. Your doctor or another member of your diabetes health