Prediabetes: Start Treating Symptoms Today

 

After receiving the news that you or someone you love is prediabetic, you might head to the internet for answers and worst-case scenarios. It might be how you first discovered this article. While type 1 and type 2 diabetes are serious conditions, a prediabetes diagnosis does not mean a full case of diabetes is inevitable. Our team of professional medical providers is here to provide direct and helpful information related to prediabetes symptoms and treatment. 

 

Thankfully, lifestyle and diet changes can keep your prediabetes from progressing to type 2 diabetes. While the worst-case scenario might include a situation where you lose your vision, toes, or kidneys or suffer complications from a stroke, this is often an entirely preventable outcome. A quick search for prediabetes symptoms and treatment should encourage you with the news that preventative care can reverse your diagnosis. 

 

What does prediabetes mean? 

One of the key “symptoms” of prediabetes is a higher-than-normal blood sugar level. This means that your blood sugar is not yet high enough to be labeled type 2 diabetes, but it does mean that you are likely to develop type 2 diabetes if you don’t make changes.

 

High blood sugar occurs when the body can’t process glucose (sugar) properly. Glucose comes from the food you eat; when you digest food, it enters your bloodstream. Your pancreas produces the hormone insulin, which helps distribute glucose to your body. When you have symptoms of prediabetes, the body is less effective at using sugar either because you aren’t making enough insulin or cells have become resistant to insulin. The sugar accumulates in the blood rather than being used up by the muscles. This build-up leads to high blood sugar.

 

What are the symptoms of prediabetes? 

Prediabetes causes few surface symptoms that would prompt treatment. However, if you notice these physical changes, discuss them with your doctor and ask for further testing. 

 

• Dark skin patches These are called acanthosis nigricans, which are thick, dark, velvety patches on different areas of the body, usually around the neck, knuckles, groin, knees, and armpits.

 

• Skin tags or small skin growth

 

• Eye changes Prediabetes can lead to diabetic retinopathy, which is when the blood vessels in your eyes weaken and leak. 

 

While finding an obvious prediabetes symptom is unlikely, there are other conditions associated with prediabetes that include:

 

• High blood pressure  This occurs when the pressure against your blood vessel walls is consistently higher than it should be.

 

• Low levels of the “good” cholesterol  The body should have strong levels of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol.

 

• High levels of triglycerides  A type of waxy fat in your blood that comes from the food you eat as well as your body’s own production of it, triglycerides give your body energy. Too much of them leads to insulin resistance as well as other health risks.

 

• Metabolic syndrome  This syndrome is a combination of high blood pressure, high cholesterol level, and large waist measurement.

 

When any of these conditions occur alongside obesity, they are associated with insulin resistance.

 

What are the treatments for prediabetes? 

Learning about prediabetes symptoms and treatments is the first step in preventing diabetes. Your functional medicine health team will work with you on the following five areas for treatment.

 

• Eat healthy foods There is no better way to get to the root of your prediabetes diagnosis than to look at the food you are eating and understand how your body is handling it.

 

• Control your blood pressure and cholesterol At True Life medicine we partner with you to reach a healthy blood pressure and cholesterol level. We come alongside you in your health journey, answering questions, offering encouragement, providing education and testing, and guiding your strategy with scientific, medical, and holistic prediabetes treatment.

 

• Move! Just like eating and sleeping is part of your normal day, you must make physical exercise a normal, every-day-activity. Mayo Clinic recommends getting at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic physical activity a week, or about 30 minutes on most days of the week.

 

• Lose excess weight You will already be accomplishing this when you begin to make healthy food choices and incorporate daily movement into your lifestyle. The reason you need to begin to lose excess weight is that the more fatty tissue you have, especially around your abdomen between your muscle and skin, the more resistant your cells become to insulin. Being overweight raises the risk of diabetes significantly.

 

• Don’t smoke The FDA states, “Smokers are 30 to 40 percent more likely to develop type 2 diabetes than nonsmokers.” High levels of nicotine also weaken insulin’s effectiveness.

 

Functional Medicine & Prediabetes

The number of prediabetic cases in the US, according to the CDC, is now 88 million. This condition might be common, but a few minutes a day can keep symptoms from progressing. Your future is bright! 

Make an appointment with our team of functional medicine doctors to answer all your prediabetes symptoms and treatment questions. At True Life Medicine, we will be with you every step of the way in your prevention of type 2 diabetes.