Prediabetes: What is it?
Prediabetes (also known as metabolic syndrome) is fairly new term that describes when a person’s blood sugar level rises higher than normal but not quite high enough for a diabetes diagnosis. The estimated number of Americans with this condition is near epidemic: 41 million, or about 40 percent of adults 40 to 74. By contrast, only 6 percent of Americans have diabetes itself. If prediabetes is not properly treated, people are at a high risk of developing diabetes.
Type 2, or adult-onset, diabetes (to which prediabetes can lead occurs when the pancreas produces the hormone insulin, which allows blood sugar to enter cells, but the cells of the body are insensitive to the insulin and thus become starved for sugar.
How do I find our if I have it?
Two tests help detect prediabetes, the fasting plasma glucose test (FPG) and the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Administered in the morning, the FPG test measures blood sugar after an overnight fast and again two hours following a sugary drink.
Should I get tested?
Every one should have their blood sugar checked when they reach 45. However, if you have certain risk factors, you should certainly get checked earlier. So talk with your doctor about blood sugar testing if you are younger than 45 but are overweight, or have high blood pressure, low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, a family history of diabetes, or a history of gestational diabetes or giving birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds.
Prediabetes (also known as metabolic syndrome) is fairly new term that describes when a person’s blood sugar level rises higher than normal but not quite high enough for a diabetes diagnosis. The estimated number of Americans with this condition is near epidemic: 41 million, or about 40 percent of adults 40 to 74. By contrast, only 6 percent of Americans have diabetes itself. If prediabetes is not properly treated, people are at a high risk of developing diabetes.
Type 2, or adult-onset, diabetes (to which prediabetes can lead occurs when the pancreas produces the hormone insulin, which allows blood sugar to enter cells, but the cells of the body are insensitive to the insulin and thus become starved for sugar.
How do I find our if I have it?
Two tests help detect prediabetes, the fasting plasma glucose test (FPG) and the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Administered in the morning, the FPG test measures blood sugar after an overnight fast and again two hours following a sugary drink.
Should I get tested?
Every one should have their blood sugar checked when they reach 45. However, if you have certain risk factors, you should certainly get checked earlier. So talk with your doctor about blood sugar testing if you are younger than 45 but are overweight, or have high blood pressure, low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, a family history of diabetes, or a history of gestational diabetes or giving birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds.
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