Pre diabetes is a condition where a person has glucose levels that are higher than is normal but not high enough for diabetes to be diagnosed. Pre diabetes is a step before type 2 diabetes, a disease that brings plenty of health complications and requires lifestyle changes and constant management for a person to have a good quality of life. The scary thing about pre diabetes is the lack of symptoms. A person may never experience anything that would make them think that something is amiss. However once symptoms such as increased thirst, blurry vision and unexplained fatigue develop you could already be suffering from diabetes.

Get Tested

The only way to tell if you have pre diabetes is though testing. There are currently two tests that you can take to determine if you have this condition. The fasting plasma glucose test or the oral glucose tolerance test will tell your doctor if you have pre diabetes. This simple test will then help you take preventative steps against developing type 2 diabetes. Although some people may only be able to delay diabetes, in most cases it is possible to prevent diabetes. Anyone who is in their mid forties and overweight should take either of these tests to determine their blood glucose levels. 

What To Do Next

If you find that you do have pre diabetes there are steps that you can take to stop the onset of diabetes. In fact once you find out you have pre diabetes you should do something about it. This is because you have the chance to completely prevent diabetes from occurring. One of the first steps to take is to increase your physical activity.

Rather than the usual 20 minutes three times a week that is commonly advocated, 30 minutes of moderate physical activity five times a week is advised. Continuous physical activity that can be done everyday is better than occasional vigorous exercise. Activities such as power walking, swimming, light aerobics or even dancing are good starting points.

Another step you should take is to target losing five to ten percent of your total body weight. Losing weight can be very daunting and especially frustrating if you have tried before and never reached your ideal weight. The key here is to take things slowly. Although you may not be able to reach your ideal weight in the short term a loss of five pounds is helpful at this stage.

Once you have lost the first few pounds use it as motivation to keep going knowing that you can keep losing small amounts of weight. It is very important to try and do all you can to lose weight and keep active once you have a diagnosis of pre diabetes. If you are pro active and continue to take care of your health it is possible to reverse your blood glucose levels to a normal range and completely bypass the possibility of diabetes.

 

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