DC Diabetes Prevention and Control Program Pre-Diabetes and Diabetes Prevention
Diabetes is the sixth leading cause of death in the District.
Diabetes prevalence is on the rise; affecting people of all ages, races, ethnic backgrounds and genders.
Currently, the disease and its complications affect 18.2 million Americans. There are several factors that
increase the risk for developing diabetes. These factors include: a family history of diabetes, being a
member of a certain ethnic groups, having gestational diabetes,
age, weight and predisposing genetic factors.
Today there are 41 million people ages 41-70 have pre-diabetes.
The term pre-diabetes is given to people whose blood glucose levels are high, but not high enough to be diagnosed as having diabetes.
There are two clinical tests for pre-diabetes-- a Fasting Plasma Glucose Test (FPG) and an Oral Glucose
Tolerance Test (OGTT). These tests measure fasting glucose and glucose tolerance. Clinically, fasting glucose
levels or the glucose after fasting for 8-12 hours are less than 100mg/dl for a normal level,
greater than 100 and less than 126 for a pre-diabetes, and greater than 126 for a diabetic diagnosis. The OGTT clinical levels
are less than 140 for a normal level, greater than 140 and less than 200 for a pre-diabetes, and greater than 200 for a diabetes diagnosis.
Pre-diabetes generally precedes type 2 diabetes. For many people, having pre-diabetes serves as a wake up call they need
to make changes towards living a healthier lifestyle. In some cases short-term damage to the body may already
be occurring during pre-diabetes. However, research has shown that making changes in diet, weight loss, managing
blood sugar, blood pressure, blood cholesterol, and increasing physical activity may prevent or delay complications. Having pre-diabetes does not mean that
you are destined to develop diabetes. Through exercise and proper management of blood glucose with the help of
a primary care physician and registered dietitian, it is possible to prevent or delay the onset of type 2 diabetes.
