Pre-diabetes—risk factors and symptoms
To be diagnosed with pre-diabetes, your blood glucose levels must be:- Higher than normal (more than 7.8 mmol/L) and;
- Not high enough to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes (less than 11.1 mmol/L).
- Being overweight—this is a major risk factor for pre-diabetes. The more fat you carry, especially around your waist, the more your cells become resistant to insulin. This risk factor increases after the age of 55.
- Having an unhealthy diet.
- Being physically inactive.
- Having high triglycerides (blood fats) and low HDL-C (‘good’ cholesterol) and/or high LDL-C (‘bad’ cholesterol).
- Having high blood pressure, especially if you are over 45.
- Having poor sleep patterns.
- Smoking.
- Age—although pre-diabetes can develop at any age, the risk of prediabetes increases after age 55.
- Ethnicity—although it’s unclear why, people with a family background of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Pacific Islander, South-East Asian, Asian (the sub-continent), Arabic, or north African are more likely to develop pre-diabetes. This risk increases in people who are over 35.
- Having a parent or sibling with pre-diabetes or type 2 diabetes.
- Women with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS).
- Women who have had diabetes in pregnancy (gestational diabetes) or given birth to a big baby (more than 4.5kgs).
- frequently needing to urinate
- increased thirst and frequent urination
- weight loss
- blurry vision
- infections.
Pre-diabetes: diagnosis and treatment
It is recommended that adults check their diabetes risk every three years from the age of 40 years using the Australian type 2 diabetes risk assessment tool. Annual screening from 18 years of age is recommended for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. As there are no reliable signs or symptoms of pre-diabetes, it is usually diagnosed when a person’s doctor is concerned that they have the symptoms of high blood glucose levels listed above and sends them for a blood test. The test to confirm pre-diabetes and diabetes is a fasting glucose test (FGT)/blood glucose test. This is where a blood sample is taken to show the level of glucose in your blood after fasting (not eating or drinking anything other than water) for 8-10 hours. If the results suggest pre-diabetes, your doctor will ask you to have an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The level of glucose in your blood is checked after fasting for 8-10 hours. You then have a glucose drink and another blood sample is taken after 1 or 2 hours. This test shows how your body responds to glucose. Your doctor may then ask you to take an HbA1c test. This is useful for diagnosing pre-diabetes and diabetes as it checks your average blood glucose level over the past three or four months. If pre-diabetes is confirmed, it means you have one or both of the following conditions:- impaired glucose tolerance — your blood glucose level is above normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes
- impaired fasting glucose — your fasting blood glucose level is above normal but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.
Type 2 diabetes
Type 2 diabetes is a condition where the body resists the normal effects of insulin and gradually becomes unable to produce enough of it. It is the most common type of diabetes, and almost 1.3 million Australians are currently living with type 2 diabetes. Type 2 diabetes can be prevented or delayed by making healthy lifestyle changes, such as losing weight, eating healthy foods and being active. The symptoms of type 2 diabetes include:- increased thirst and frequent urination
- blurry vision
- tiredness
- feeling hungry
- having cuts that heal slowly.
- heart disease
- kidney disease
- stroke
- eye problems
- peripheral nerve damage.
