Prediabetes


Description

Prediabetes occurs when the level of sugar (glucose) in your blood is too high, but not high enough to be called diabetes.

If you have prediabetes, you are at an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes within 10 years. It also increases your risk for heart disease and stroke.

Losing extra weight and getting regular exercise will reduce the chance of your prediabetes becoming type 2 diabetes.

Alternative Names

Impaired fasting glucose - prediabetes; Impaired glucose tolerance - prediabetes

About Prediabetes

Your body gets energy from the glucose in your blood. A hormone called insulin helps the cells in your body use glucose. If you have prediabetes, this process does not work as well as usual. Glucose builds up in your bloodstream. If the levels get high enough, it means you have developed diabetes.

If you are at risk for diabetes, your health care provider will test your blood sugar using one or more of the following tests. Any of the following test results indicate prediabetes:

Having diabetes increases the risk for certain health problems. This is because high glucose levels in the blood can damage the blood vessels and nerves. This can lead to heart disease and stroke. If you have prediabetes, damage may already be occurring in your blood vessels.

Having prediabetes is a wake-up call to take action to improve your health.

How to Help Prevent Diabetes

Your provider will talk with you about your condition and your risks from prediabetes. To help you prevent diabetes, your provider will likely suggest certain lifestyle changes:

Risk Factors

You can't tell that you have prediabetes because it has no symptoms. The only way to know is through a blood test. Your provider will test your blood sugar if you are at risk for diabetes. The risk factors for prediabetes are the same as those for type 2 diabetes.

You should consider getting tested for prediabetes if you are age 35 or older. If you are younger than 35, ask your provider if you should get tested if you are overweight or obese and have one or more of these risk factors:

Follow-Up Testing

If your blood test results show that you have prediabetes, your provider may suggest that you be retested once each year. If your results are normal, your provider may suggest getting retested every 3 years.

References

American Diabetes Association Professional Practice Committee. 3. Prevention or delay of diabetes and associated comorbidities: Standards of medical care in diabetes-2024. Diabetes Care. 2024;47(Suppl 1):S43-S51. PMID: 38078581 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38078581/.

Kahn CR, Ferris HA, O'Neill BT. Pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes mellitus. In: Melmed S, Auchus RJ, Goldfine AB, Koenig RJ, Rosen CJ, eds. Williams Textbook of Endocrinology. 14th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 34.

US Preventive Services Task Force. Prediabetes and type 2 diabetes: screening. www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/screening-for-prediabetes-and-type-2-diabetes#bootstrap-panel--6. Updated August 24, 2021. Accessed May 7, 2024.


Review Date: 3/11/2024
Reviewed By: Frank D. Brodkey, MD, FCCM, Associate Professor, Section of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, WI. Also reviewed by David C. Dugdale, MD, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.
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