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November 5, 2006

Pre-diabetes

Pre-diabetes is a term used to describe a condition in which the body is insulin resistant, leading to an elevation in blood sugars but not high enough to be diagnostic of diabetes. Pre-diabetes is diagnosed when your fasting blood sugar falls between 100-126 mg/dl.

It is estimated that 16 million Americans over the age of 40 have this new diagnosis.

The condition is serious - an immediate concern is that pre-diabetes increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes and heart disease by 50 percent. With the new lower threshold, it is hoped that more cases of pre-diabetes will be detected early enough so there is time to turn things around.

The good news is that something can be done about it.

Posted by Diabetologica at November 5, 2006 4:24 AM