What factors contribute to the development of prediabetes?

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Prediabetes is a serious health condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough yet to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes. Approximately 96 million American adults have prediabetes. Of those with prediabetes, more than 80% do not know they have it. Prediabetes puts you at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. The good news is that if you have prediabetes, the CDC-led National Diabetes Prevention Program can help you make lifestyle changes to prevent or delay type 2 diabetes and other serious health problems. Insulin is a hormone made by your pancreas that acts like a key to let blood sugar into cells for use as energy. If you have prediabetes, the cells in your body do not respond normally to insulin. Your pancreas makes more insulin to try to get cells to respond. Eventually, your pancreas cannot keep up, and your blood sugar rises, setting the stage for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes down the road.

Signs and symptoms - You can have prediabetes for years but have no clear symptoms, so it often goes undetected until serious health problems such as type 2 diabetes show up. It is important to talk to your doctor about getting your blood sugar tested if you have any of the risk factors for prediabetes, which include:

1. Being overweight.
2. Being 45 years or older.
3. Having a parent, brother, or sister with type 2 diabetes.
4. Being physically active less than three times a week.
5. Ever having gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy) or giving birth to a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds.
6. Having polycystic ovary syndrome.
7. Race and ethnicity are also a factor: African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, American Indians, Pacific Islanders, and some Asian Americans are at higher risk.

If you have prediabetes, losing a small amount of weight if you are overweight and getting regular physical activity can lower your risk for developing type 2 diabetes. A small amount of weight loss means around 5 % to 7 % of your body weight or just 10 to 14 pounds for a 200-pound person. Regular physical activity means getting at least 150 minutes a week of brisk walking or a similar activity. That is just 30 minutes a day, five days a week.

I hope this information helps you.

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