Pre-Diabetes.

Newswise, November 2006 – The University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine has reported that fifty-four million Americans, which is one out of six of us, have pre-diabetes and are unaware of it. What this means is that you may have elevated blood glucose levels and could one day have high enough blood glucose levels that you will be diagnosed with diabetes. The medical director of the Penn Rodebaugh Diabetes Center suggests that patients who may be at risk consult their doctor about getting a blood test to check for pre-diabetes,

According to Mike Schutta, MD, if you have pre-diabetes there is a 75% probability that diabetes will develop within 30 years. Schutta also says that if you are born in the U.S., your chances of developing diabetes is one out of three. The reason that so many people are developing diabetes, according to Schutta, is that diabetes has no symptoms in its early stages. “f you knew you had pre-diabetes, you could still prevent getting diabetes through changes in diet and exercise. There are many health benefits to knowing you have pre-diabetes and "heading it off." If you wait until you have diabetes, the vascular damage to your body may already be done.", he adds.

If any of these apply to you, a blood test for pre-diabetes is recommended:

• You have a known family history of diabetes.
• You are African American, Latino, Native American, Asian American or Pacific Islander.
• While pregnant, you developed gestational diabetes.
• You delivered a baby who weighed more than nine pounds.
• You have high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, are overweight.

There are two types of test you can request to test for pre-diabetes. One is a fasting plasma glucose test, which tests your blood glucose levels after a period of not eating. The other is called an oral glucose tolerance test. This test will put glucose into your system and test to see if you are producing insulin properly.

Of course, having pre-diabetes does not necessarily mean that you will develop diabetes. It can be prevented with exercise and the proper changes to your diet.