WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PREDIABETES AND TYPE 2 DIABETES?
The difference is quite clear, in prediabetes blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.
It may be related to low insulin production or a decreased response to insulin by the body.
This problem generally occurs in people who are overweight or obese, sedentary people, or people with a genetic predisposition to diabetes.
Anyone who is diagnosed as prediabetic has a higher risk of developing diabetes in the future (as we will see later, unlike diabetes, prediabetes can be “cured”)
The prevalence of prediabetes is increasing worldwide and experts have projected that more than 470 million people will have prediabetes by 2030(1).
WHO IS AT MOST RISK OF PREDIABETES OR DIABETES?
We already made clear the differences between prediabetes and diabetes, now we see who is susceptible to suffering from this problem.
People at higher risk of suffering from prediabetes or diabetes are:
- People who are overweight or obese
- have high blood pressure
- Have low HDL cholesterol and high triglycerides
- The factors that I just mentioned can be modified thanks to adequate nutritional treatment.
The following are risk factors that cannot be modified:
- Be over 45 years old
- Have a family history of diabetes
- Having a history of gestational diabetes or giving birth to a baby weighing more than 4kg
- If you have one or more of these risk factors, it is advisable that you go to a nutritionist or doctor, just to rule out problems.
THE EFFECTS OF PREDIABETES ON THE HUMAN BODY
If prediabetes is not diabetes then can I continue eating whatever I want?
- Wrong! If you have been diagnosed with prediabetes then it is time to change your lifestyle and diet to avoid progressing to diabetes.
Let's see what the effects of prediabetes are on the human body.
For there to be an increase in the amount of sugar in the blood, a process called insulin resistance normally occurs.
- Insulin helps sugar from food move from the blood to the body's cells.
- A high level of insulin can cause high blood pressure in some people (2).
- The human body is very resistant and most people who suffer from prediabetes can live in this state without having symptoms until they develop type 2 diabetes.
SYMPTOMS OF TYPE 2 DIABETES
Prediabetes usually does not produce symptoms and the person can live like this for many years, until ending up in frank diabetes.
You can see the signs and symptoms of type 2 diabetes mellitus in the following image:
Unlike diabetes, prediabetes can be reversed to a state of normality.
In fact, people who begin pharmacological treatment and, more importantly, lifestyle modification, reduce the risk of suffering from diabetes by 40% to 70% (1).
According to the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), people with prediabetes can prevent or delay the development of type 2 diabetes by making lifestyle changes.
Most people with prediabetes are overweight.
Losing and maintaining weight loss can delay or prevent the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
A healthy diet combined with increased physical activity can help you achieve weight loss. If you suffer from anxiety about eating then this article will help you a lot.
To achieve control of prediabetes, it is essential that you seek advice from a nutritionist. If you want me to assist you, you can request an hour with me in the scheduling module, all with an excellent quality video call and delivery of teaching material.
There are many foods that can help you regulate your weight, such as spirulina or flaxseed.
Don't worry about the saying "eating healthy is expensive"
CONCLUSION
As you can see, the difference between prediabetes and diabetes is only the blood glucose level. If you have been diagnosed with prediabetes, you still have time to avoid annoying diabetes mellitus.
PRONAPRESA
"Because prevention is better than cure"
