Today many people are diagnosed with pre-diabetes and aren’t clear about what they really should do with that diagnosis. Use the tips below to consider lifestyle changes that can help avoid the onset of Type 2 diabetes.
Pre-diabetes is determined by a physician. Pre-diabetes is not a loose term but one that indicates blood glucose levels as determined by a physician that are higher than normal but not high enough to be categorized as diabetes.
A diagnosis of pre-diabetes will never include the advice of do nothing. While you do not have diabetes if you have pre-diabetes, you will be given advice about changes in your lifestyle that can help prevent pre-diabetes from becoming Type 2 diabetes.
Weight loss is a common part of the treatment prescribed for pre-diabetes because pre-diabetes is often associated with being overweight. Part of your healthy weight loss will include dietary advice that reduces fats and calories as well as learning to consider the glycemic index of your foods for healthier living.
You will not have to test your blood sugar during the day if you have pre-diabetes. This does not mean that your blood sugar won’t fluctuate so that you will want to incorporate a healthy diet in order to eat correctly and avoid the progression of pre-diabetes to diabetes. Learning about the glycemic index in foods is helpful in managing fluctuations in blood sugar.
If you have not been exercising which is often the case with a diagnosis of pre-diabetes, you will want to begin slowly and work up to meeting current standards for exercise which is about 150 minutes a week or more. Exercise is also a crucial part of a healthy weight-loss program that can help you manage your pre-diabetes and your weight simultaneously. Most physicians will prescribe exercise for pre-diabetics so that you won’t have to remember to bring up a discussion about whether you can exercise. You should consider asking whether your physician advises any limitation on your exercise in terms of duration or intensity.
You will normally not have to have frequent blood glucose testing after you are diagnosed with pre-diabetes. Often blood glucose testing will be limited to once every two years after a diagnosis of pre-diabetes.
One of the most commonly prescribed medications for pre-diabetics is metformin. This medication is usually not used for pre-diabetics unless they are overweight by about 60 pounds or more. There are new studies out indicating that while metformin can be helpful in preventing pre-diabetes from becoming diabetes in younger adults up to the age of about 44, the effectiveness of metformin is least effective for individuals who are 45 and older. Therefore the drug might be prescribed less frequently for older individuals diagnosed with pre-diabetes.
Pre-diabetes is a diagnosis that can be used as a warning in order to make some lifestyle changes that could help you avoid having Type 2 diabetes. Use the tips above to consider how to best use the information from a diagnosis of pre-diabetes to incorporate healthy habits into your lifestyle.