Prediabetes is an intermediate stage of type 2 diabetes development. It is important to intervene at this stage to prevent progression and stop the condition from worsening. Depending on specific diagnostic criteria, prediabetes is synonym of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) or impaired fasting glucose (IFG). An elevated risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke exists in individuals with prediabetes. Prediabetes can be reversed, which is good news. That’s why screening is so important.
What is prediabetes and what are its symptoms?
Blood glucose levels in prediabetes are greater than normal but not high enough to be classified as diabetes. Prediabetes has no clear symptoms, but some individuals with prediabetes have signs of type 2 diabetes, such as intense feelings of thirst, peeing a lot, blurry vision, being a lot more tired than usual, having areas of darker skin in your armpit or on your neck, and having small skin growths in the same areas.
Some early diabetes symptoms that could affect women, in particular, are yeast and urinary tract infections, longer and heavier periods, reduced interest in sex, vaginal dryness that can make intercourse uncomfortable, and trouble getting pregnant.
How do you confirm if you have prediabetes?
Apart from the aforementioned symptoms, there are a few different blood tests that can diagnose and confirm prediabetes, as follows:
- Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test: the blood sugar level at any given time is measured by the fasting plasma glucose (FPG) test and expressed in milligrammes per deciliter, or mg/dL. Prior to the test, you must fast for at least eight hours—that is, no consumption of any food or liquids.
- A normal level is 99 or below.
- Prediabetes is 100 to 125 mg/dL (impaired fasting glucose).
- Type 2 diabetes is 126 and above.
- HbA1c test which measures your average blood sugar over the past 3 months, The results of a HbA1c test appear as a percentage. The greater the percentage, the greater your previous blood sugar readings.
- A normal level is below 5.7%.
- Prediabetes is between 5.7 and 6.4%.
- Type 2 diabetes is above 6.5%.
- 2-hour post-75 g oral glucose challenge test 140–199 mg/dL (impaired glucose tolerance). First, you’ll have a fasting plasma glucose test. Then, you’ll drink a sugar solution. After 2 hours, a technician will take more blood for testing. The results indicate:
- The normal range of blood sugar is less than 140 mg/dL after the second test.
- The prediabetes range of blood sugar is 140–199 mg/dL after the second test.
- Diabetes-range blood sugar is 200 mg/dL or higher after the second test.
Since HbA1c measures blood glucose concentration over the long term, it is unaffected by sudden fluctuations in blood sugar brought on by illness or stress. HbA1c testing is more convenient than using an oral glucose tolerance test or a fasting plasma glucose level. Because the latter doesn’t require fasting. Assessing fasting plasma glucose and HbA1c is simpler than doing an oral glucose tolerance test. The evaluation for blood glucose concentration is two hours after ingesting a 75-g oral glucose load during the morning oral glucose tolerance test.
Even if blood test results below these levels do not guarantee the development of type 2 diabetes in the future, those with these more elevated readings have a higher risk of the disease’s advancement.
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