Differences Between Prediabetes and Diabetes

Prediabetes Versus Diabetes

The first thing you need to learn is the difference between prediabetes and diabetes. Knowing what prediabetes and diabetes are, and understanding the similarities and differences between them, makes it easier to find out if you have one of these conditions. Pre-diabetes means that you don't yet have diabetes, but if you do nothing you may develop type 2 diabetes in the future. The biggest worry with prediabetes is an increased risk for heart disease, even if diabetes never develops.

When you have prediabetes you have something called insulin resistance. This means that your body doesn't respond correctly to the insulin your body makes. Your body then has to make more and more insulin to keep your blood sugar levels in the normal range. When you have insulin resistance, other abnormalities of fat and blood pressure occur that can clog your arteries with plaque. So when I talk about treating prediabetes I am talking about preventing both diabetes and heart disease. This condition (and its associated disorder known as the metabolic syndrome, or syndrome X) is very common; more than 44 million Americans have it.

How High Blood Sugar Levels Related to Prediabetes and Diabetes

Diabetes, which is an abnormality of blood sugar levels, is classified by three distinct types. Type 2 is the most common and is the type of diabetes people get if their prediabetes is not treated. Type 1 diabetes is the form of diabetes for which patients must take insulin shots for the rest of their lives. The third type is gestational diabetes, which is a form of type 2 diabetes that can occur during pregnancy. When I treat patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, I work with them to bring blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels into the normal range. This helps lower their risk for heart disease and stroke (just as in patients with prediabetes) as well as the risk for blindness, kidney failure, and amputation.

When you are first diagnosed with prediabetes or diabetes you need to find health care providers who can give you the education and treatment that you need. Later I will describe how to find helps and who can give it. What is most important to realize right now is that we can do something about prediabetes and diabetes.

Don't Be Desperate if You Have Prediabetes and Diabetes

Having these conditions isn't the death sentence. Think of them instead as an opportunity to take control, to have a longer, healthier life. Many of the diabetes management skills I hope to I can make you (actually anyone) healthier overall. Fixing one part of your health - for instance, increasing the fiber in your diet to help lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels, can also affect another area, such a lowering the risk for colon cancer. Treating diabetes is treating your well-being overall.