1 in 3 American Adults have Pre-diabetes. Are you one?

Did you know that over 96 million Americans have prediabetes right now? Prediabetes means your blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Prediabetes usually occurs in people who already have some insulin resistance or whose beta cells in the pancreas aren’t making enough insulin to keep blood glucose in the normal range. Without enough insulin, extra glucose stays in your bloodstream rather than entering your cells. Over time, you could develop type 2 diabetes. Insulin resistance and prediabetes usually have no symptoms.

Even though blood glucose levels are not high enough to cause symptoms for most people, a few research studies have shown that some people with prediabetes may already have early changes in their eyes that can lead to retinopathy. This problem more often occurs in people with diabetes. People with prediabetes have up to a 50 percent chance of developing diabetes over the next 5 to 10 years.

You can take steps to manage your prediabetes and prevent type 2 diabetes.The following test results show Prediabetes:

A1C—5.7 to 6.4 percent

FPG—100 to 125 mg/dL (milligrams per deciliter)

OGTT—140 to 199 mg/dL

You should be tested for prediabetes if you are overweight or have obesity and have one or more other risk factors for diabetes, or if your parents, siblings, or children have type 2 diabetes. Even if you don’t have risk factors, you should start getting tested once you reach age 45.If the results are normal but you have other risk factors for diabetes, you should be retested at least every 3 years.

Reference: the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health