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Prediabetes:  An estimated 41 million Americans have the condition identified since 2002 as prediabetes, which, if left unchecked, inevitably will lead to full-blown diabetes. From one of the world's leading diabetes "patient experts," this first-ever practical guide offers fifty essential, informative ideas and simple steps to help this vast and rapidly growing constituency manage their condition and thereby reduce their chances of developing full-blown diabetes. Prediabetes clearly explains what readers can do today, no matter what their age, and whether or not they have a family history of diabetes, a severe weight problem, or are members of an ethnic group at high risk-including Hispanics, Native Americans, African Americans, and Pacific Islanders. Helpful drawings and graphs are featured throughout in this new, revised edition.

Information for the Newly Diagnosed with Diabetes
What is pre-diabetes?

What is pre-diabetes? (also spelled "prediabetes")

Pre-diabetes is NOT yet diabetes, but could become type 2 diabetes unless lifestyle changes are made.

Another term for pre-diabetes is impaired glucose tolerance (IGT).  IGT refers to when a person has abnormal blood glucose levels but not enough to be classified as diabetic.  Blood glucose levels in the following ranges classify a person as having IGT (also called impaired glucose homeostasis), specifically as follows:

§     People with fasting glucose levels from 110 to 126 mg/dL have impaired fasting glucose.

§     People with 2 hour postprandial (two hours after being given glucose) blood glucose levels between 140-200 mg/dL have impaired glucose tolerance. 

Pre-diabetes is a risk factor for onset of type 2 diabetes and although pre-diabetes can sometimes be completely reversed there is no cure for type 2 diabetes once it occurs.  Women who have had gestational diabetes (and their babies) are at a higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes later in life.

As with type 1 diabetes, many people carry the genetic risk factors for type 2 diabetes.  While it is not possible to predict type 2 there are factors that play a key role in who will develop it.  Studies show that an unhealthy lifestyle of inactivity and high-fat, processed carbohydrate diets and obesity are controllable triggers of type 2 diabetes.  

Click on the following links for more information about pre-diabetes:

What is Pre-Diabetes (Also called Impaired Glucose Tolerance [IGT])
How are Insulin Resistance, Pre-Diabetes, and Type 2 Diabetes Linked?
What Causes Insulin Resistance?
What are the Symptoms of Insulin Resistance and Pre-Diabetes?
Tests for Diabetes and Pre-Diabetes?
Lab Tests and What They Show
Can you Reverse Insulin Resistance?
Can Medicines Help?

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Page Updated 04/12/2006