How Serious Is Prediabetes?

According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), over 84 million Americans had prediabetes in 2015. But how big a problem is prediabetes?
Is prediabetes a real disease? Or are they just trying to scare people, sell medicines, and get more money for diabetes services? Let’s see.
What is prediabetes?
According to the Centers for Disease Control, prediabetes means blood sugars that are higher than normal, but not high enough to qualify as diabetes. It’s what used to sometimes be called “borderline diabetes.”
Prediabetes is a numbers game. There are no symptoms that define it. The term “prediabetes” classes people with only slightly high sugars as having an illness.
Some experts strongly dislike the term, because it sounds like a stage on the way to diabetes. It can be, but many people never get there. It depends on your life and how you live it.
A person can be classed with prediabetes in three ways:
• Impaired fasting glucose (IFG): A fasting blood glucose between 100–125 mg/dl (5.6–7.0 mmol/l).
• Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT): An oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) result from 140–199 mg/dl. The person is given a sweet drink and his glucose is tested one and/or two hours later.
An OGTT was the first test used to diagnose prediabetes, but it’s used much less now because of the time, difficulty, and expense involved.
• Hemoglobin A1C: An HbA1c level of 5.7% to 6.4%. HbA1c is a rough measure of a person’s average glucose over the last 2–3 months.
Some of the increased number of people with prediabetes is from the newer tests. More people are Continue reading

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Diabetes now affects more than 4 million people in UK, charity says

The number of people living with diabetes in the UK has topped 4 million for the first time, a charity says.
Based on 2014-15 GP patient data, Diabetes UK says there are 4.05 million people with the condition, including 3.5 million adults who have been diagnosed, an increase of 65% over the past decade and around 120,000 more than the previous year. There are thought to be 549,000 with undiagnosed type 2 diabetes.
Melanie Davies, professor of diabetes medicine at the University of Leicester and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS trust, who was made a CBE in the New Year’s honours list, said that numbers with the condition were growing across the world, often outstripping estimates.
As such, she said, the 4 million figure is “not surprising but quite alarming. There are also lots of people at very high risk of developing diabetes over the next five to 10 years. The large driver is the increase in the number of people with type 2 diabetes, associated with obesity in the population.
“We know that we have an ageing population so of course there are lots of ageing people with diabetes, but we’re seeing in the [Leicester] clinic, teenagers and even children with type 2 diabetes and we wouldn’t have seen that 10 years ago. Even under the age of 30 there are many more people developing it than before and having it for a longer time, so there are more complications.”
The National Audit Office recently criticised the poor standard of diabetes care, and Diabetes UK says that unless this is remedied more people will end up experiencing potentially preventable diabetes-re Continue reading

Signs of Diabetes in Children

What to look for: Symptoms of type 1 diabetes in children
One of the early signs of diabetes in children is increased urination and thirst. When blood-sugar is high it triggers a reaction in the body that pulls fluid from tissues. This will leave your son or daughter constantly thirsty, resulting in a need for more bathroom breaks throughout the day. Below are some other warning signs that you should be aware of.
Fatigue: If your child is constantly tired it may be a sign that his or her body is having trouble turning sugar in the bloodstream into energy.
Changes in vision: High blood sugar levels can lead to blurred vision or other eyesight problems.
Fruity smelling breath: If your kid’s breath smells fruity, it could be a result of excess sugar in the blood.
Extreme hunger and unexplained weight loss: When your son or daughter’s muscles and organs aren’t receiving enough energy, it can trigger extreme hunger. And sudden weight loss—especially if he or she is eating more—should not be ignored.
Unusual behavior: If your child seems more moody or restless than normal—and it’s in conjunction with the symptoms above—it could be cause for concern.
Other symptoms of diabetes in children
Be on the lookout if your child is lethargic, shows heavy breathing, or experiences nausea and vomiting. When it goes untreated, type 1 diabetes can be life-threatening. If you’re concerned that your son or daughter is showing signs of childhood diabetes it’s important that you schedule a doctor’s appointment as soon as possible.
So what are the low blood sugar symptoms you Continue reading

Eating with Diabetes: Smart Snacking

20 Diabetes-Friendly Snack Ideas
Whether you want to lose weight or simply eat healthier, enjoying a couple of snacks each day is a smart habit for many people. Eating a planned snack between meals can help curb your hunger (and therefore prevent overeating at mealtime) and also increase your energy levels when you need a boost. Snacks offer an additional benefit for people with type 2 diabetes: They can help optimize your blood glucose control. So if you haven't incorporated snacks into your diabetes meal plan yet, now may be the time to start. Here's what you need to know to snack smart, along with some carbohydrate-controlled snack ideas you can try today!
3 Considerations When Planning Snacks
The number of snacks a person with diabetes should eat during the day depends largely on your eating preferences, your weight-management goals, and the timing of your major meals. People with diabetes can eat snacks throughout the day for a number of reasons—simply enjoying a mid-morning snack or planning them into their day for better blood glucose control. Exactly how many snacks you should eat—and when you eat them—is very individualized. Meeting with a registered dietitian or certified diabetes educator is the best way to make sure your diabetes meal plan meets your needs. However, here are a few basic guidelines that can be helpful when planning snacks.
How many hours pass between your meals? In general, people with diabetes who want to optimize blood glucose control should not go longer than five hours without eating. If you consistently eat your main meals every 4 to 5 Continue reading

10 Symptoms Of Diabetes That Are So Subtle You Might Totally Miss Them

Diabetes is a chronic condition where your blood sugar (a.k.a., glucose) is too high, often because your body doesn’t make enough insulin (the hormone that helps you process sugar) or process it well. While you might think you’d recognize something’s up, many people don’t. “Many times when sugars are not extremely high, you may not have symptoms,” says Poorani Goundan, M.D., an endocrinologist at Boston Medical Center. “Of the total diabetics in the U.S., a huge proportion are undiagnosed.” That’s why, she says, everyone over the age of 45 and younger people who have risk factors—including being overweight, having a family history of diabetes, or having gestational diabetes during pregnancy—should be screened regularly.
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In the meantime, even noticeable diabetes symptoms are often mild and can easily be written off as something else. Here are a few common but sneaky symptoms of diabetes every woman should know about:
As with other sign of diabetes, this classic symptom is caused by excess sugar circulating in your body. “When your blood sugar is high, your body is trying to dump it out of your system. Water follows sugar, so you end up having high-volume urine loss,” says Vouyiouklis Kellis, M.D., an endocrinologist at Cleveland Clinic. If you notice you’re suddenly peeing more often and in greater volumes for no real reason—especially if you’re waking up a few times during the night to take a whiz—it’s time to talk to your doctor, say both Goun Continue reading