In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, water, chopped herbs, ground black pepper, salt, and smoked paprika.
Heat a non-stick pan over medium heat and add olive oil. Pour the egg mixture into the pan and stir gently with a spatula until the mixture sets on the base of the pan. Stop stirring and sprinkle the grated cheese on top. Cover the pan with a lid and cook until the cheese melts.
Toast the bread slices.
Serve the omelet with sliced tomato and toasted bread on the side.
This herbed cheddar omelet is a vegetarian, low-carb, high-protein, and fiber-rich meal that is ideal for managing blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. Adjust the seasoning to your taste or use your preferred spices. Enjoy!
Check out our Klinio App for more amazing diabetes-friendly recipes.
The Link Between Diabetes and Blood Sugar
Whenever you eat foods that contain carbohydrates, your body converts those carbohydrates into sugars. It then releases that sugar into your blood, where it travels toward the cells that need it. At the same time, your pancreas releases insulin, which your body uses to process the sugar so your cells can use it.
At least, that’s the process for people without diabetes. Someone with diabetes will experience issues with their blood sugar level because of two possible reasons. Either their pancreases have issues producing the insulin needed to process blood glucose, or their cells develop an insulin resistance that makes the process less efficient. It’s in these situations that blood glucose monitoring becomes important. People with diabetes must practice blood sugar control to ensure they manage blood sugar and avoid diabetes-related complications.
More information can be found by visiting the website of the American Diabetes Association. You’ll see information about test strip reading, blood pressure, blood vessels, glucose tablets, and general diabetes health care. Another resource for learning about the disease is a certified diabetes educator. These specialists can tell you more about how many hours after a meal you need to wait before testing your sugar levels, for example, and much more.
What happens if you have high blood sugar?
High blood sugar can occur for several reasons. Beyond eating too much sugary food, your sugar level could increase if you become less physically active, feel stressed, or miss a dose of your diabetes medicine. It can also occur due to gestational diabetes, which is when your blood glucose levels increase during pregnancy, only to fall again upon giving birth.
High blood glucose levels lead to several common symptoms:
Feelings of fatigue
Blurred vision
Feeling extremely thirsty
Going to the toilet more often
Weight loss
If you experience any of these symptoms, take them as signals that you have high blood glucose and need to improve your blood sugar monitoring.
When your blood sugar rises, leading to consistently elevated levels, you place yourself at risk of developing several dangerous conditions, including:
Diabetic retinopathy, which causes permanent damage to your eyesight
Peripheral neuropathy, which is a form of nerve damage that causes pain primarily in the hands and feet
In short, having too much blood glucose makes it harder for your body to produce enough insulin to process the sugar. The result can be a range of health conditions that impact your quality of life.
What happens if you have low blood sugar?
Low blood glucose levels can be just as dangerous as high ones. Generally speaking, this issue affects people with diabetes who take insulin and is often traceable to dietary issues. The early symptoms of low blood sugar include:
If you don’t do anything about your low blood glucose level, your symptoms may intensify or give way to more damaging issues, such as:
Blurred vision
Physical weakness
Clumsiness and slurred speech
Difficulty concentrating
Exhaustion
Collapsing
Seizures and fits
How Blood Sugar Helps Doctors Determine if You Have Diabetes
With the issues related to varying blood glucose being so severe, it’s easy to see why continuous glucose monitoring is so important. If you suspect that you have diabetes, your healthcare professional may administer several diabetes tests. Each test measures your blood glucose levels and compares them to healthy norms, helping your health care professional diagnose diabetes. You may undergo some or all of the following tests during your doctor’s visit.
Glycated hemoglobin test
Also known as an A1C blood test, this process shows your average blood sugar level for two or three months while you maintain your normal diet. Having an A1C level of 6.5% or higher on two of these tests means you have diabetes. Levels between 5.7% and 6.4% suggest prediabetes, with anything below 5.7% falling into the normal range.
Fasting blood sugar test
You’re asked to fast for the entire night before this blood test, after which your doctor will take a blood sample.
If you have a fasting blood sugar level of 126 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl) or higher on two tests, it indicates diabetes. Fasting blood glucose of 100 mg/dl or lower is normal, with anything between these two glucose values suggesting you have prediabetes.
Random blood sugar test
In this test, your doctor takes a sample of your blood at a random time to ensure accurate test results. A blood glucose result of 200 mg/dl or above suggests that you have diabetes.
Oral glucose tolerance test
This test is another that involves fasting overnight. After you fast, your doctor will take two blood samples to check your blood against normal blood sugar levels.
The first sample is of your fasting blood glucose levels, with the second taken after you consume a sugary drink, such as fruit juice. Your doctor will then test you regularly for two hours.
A blood glucose reading of 140 mg/dl is normal. If you have a reading of 200 mg/dl two hours after drinking a sugary drink, it indicates that you have diabetes.
How to Maintain a Healthy Blood Glucose Level
If your doctor discovers that you have diabetes, they’ll start working with you to create a diabetes treatment plan. This plan is crucial for managing diabetes. Among other things, it will show you what you need to do to check your blood sugar and advises you on what your target range is. A comprehensive plan for managing your diabetes will follow.
In addition to this treatment plan, there are several steps you can take to manage your glucose levels to manage the risk factors that can lead to unhealthy consequences.
Use a continuous glucose monitor
A continuous glucose monitor is a medical device that helps with disease control.
After arriving at the doctor’s office, your healthcare team inserts a small wire underneath your skin. This wire typically goes into the arm or abdomen.
Once inserted, the wire continuously measures your blood glucose, with the results going to an external glucose meter. That monitor helps you to keep track of your levels to ensure they stay within your target range.
Though inconvenient, this technique is more effective than a regular blood glucose monitor because it doesn’t require you to prick your skin or remember to take a test.
Use appropriate diabetes medication
There are many types of diabetes medication your doctor may prescribe as part of your diabetes management plan. For example, those with type 2 diabetes often start with metformin as their first type of medication.
Other types of diabetes may require you to inject insulin into your blood to manage your blood sugars. Your doctor helps you determine your dosage so your insulin injections don’t lead to you having too much insulin in your body.
Create a diabetes meal plan
Regulating what you eat has an enormous impact on your blood glucose. Eating the wrong things, or combining several high-sugar foods at once, can lead to blood sugar spikes that cause dangerous symptoms.
Generally speaking, a good diabetic meal plan contains foods that are rich in protein and fiber. You’ll also eat more fresh foods, including those that are sources of healthy carbohydrates, such as:
Just as important as the foods you should eat are those you need to limit. A diabetic meal plan should avoid foods that lead to high glucose levels, including:
In addition to helping you to manage blood glucose, sticking to a meal plan ensures you maintain a healthy weight and have a strong immune system. As such, there are several side benefits to eating properly beyond diabetes management.
Be more physically active
Your healthcare team may make several suggestions related to how physical activity can help you manage blood sugars.
For example, simple actions like standing while you’re working or taking the stairs instead of an elevator help. So does walking to the store instead of driving or committing to taking a daily walk around the block.
All of these steps help you avoid living a sedentary life, which can elevate your blood glucose and cause the symptoms of high blood sugar.
Klinio Helps You Manage Diabetes Blood Sugar Levels
While your healthcare team will suggest several techniques you can use to monitor your blood sugars, you can also get help from third-party resources.
Klinio helps you create effective meal plans that ensure you avoid the risks associated with fluctuating blood glucose. You don’t have to take complicated blood tests or engage in any blood draw practices with Klinio. Just schedule your meals and track your sugar intake to maintain healthy levels.
Depression is a mood disorder that affects 25% of people with diabetes. Unsurprisingly, those with diabetes are more likely to experience blood sugar fluctuations. As such, it appears there is a definitive link between diabetes and mood swings. The evidence also suggests that blood glucose variations, like blood sugar dips and spikes, affect your mood differently.
Of course, people with diabetes aren’t the only ones suffering from this chronic condition. Comorbid depression goes hand in hand with emotion-based stress, anxiety, high blood pressure, and other health issues that could cause psychological reasons for mood swings apart from blood sugar levels.
In this article, we explore the link between diabetes and mood swings and examine the impact blood glucose levels play. We also offer diabetes management advice to reduce the instances of mood swings.
What the Evidence Tells Us About Diabetes and Mood Swings
Several studies demonstrate a link between diabetes and mood swings. For example, a 2012 study discovered that unstable blood sugar levels are associated with anxiety, anger, and low quality of life in women with diabetes.
This link was established long before 2012. In a 1989 study, researchers examined the effects of glycemic variability. They found that those who experience blood sugar dips are more prone to nervousness. However, a blood sugar spike also led to more sadness and anger.
These effects aren’t limited to those with diabetes. A 2017 prospective study examined the link between increased sugar intake and common mental health conditions like depression. The evidence demonstrates a clear link between diabetes and mental health challenges that could include higher stress levels and even self-harm. Blood sugar fluctuations appear to have different effects on an individual’s quality of life. While mood swings are a challenge regardless of whether you have low or high blood sugar, the nature of those mood swings varies.
The Effects of Diabetes on Mood
To understand the effects of diabetes on mood, we first need to know how the condition affects the body. Diabetes impairs your body’s ability to use blood glucose correctly. As such, those with diabetes must manage the condition to reduce glucose variability. The good news is that diabetes technology has come a long way in the past few decades. Maintaining glycemic control in the body has become easier, and a well-managed program and better knowledge of the insulin-glucose process can reduce stress for people with diabetes and those who care for them.
These are approximate ranges, meaning your ideal range may vary. But if you can stay within these ranges, you have a better chance of avoiding the following mood issues:
Diabetes distress
It’s tough and stressful to manage diabetes. You may have to deal with constantly monitoring your blood sugar levels, educating people, and creating meal plans. It can all start to feel overwhelming, leading to a stress response. This stress response, known as “diabetes distress,” affects 20% of people with insulin-dependent type 2 diabetes and about 17% of those with non-insulin-dependent type 2 diabetes.
Symptoms include:
Anger, frustration, and stress
Low motivation levels
Consistent worrying about your condition
A tendency to make unhealthy choices
Feelings of isolation
While diabetes distress doesn’t directly relate to your blood sugar, it does have an indirect link. Negative moods occur because of the need to stick to a diabetes management plan, which includes glycemic control. Think of diabetes distress as a sort of diabetes burnout to develop a stronger idea of what the condition entails.
Rapid mood shifts
Evidence suggests that there’s a relationship between blood sugar levels and mood. Losing track when managing your blood sugar levels can lead to various mood-related effects. The specific effects vary depending on what’s happening with your blood sugar. Those with low blood sugar are more likely to experience the following types of mood swings:
Hunger
Aggression
Confusion
Anxiety
Nervousness
Issues with concentration
Behavioral changes
Having high blood sugar appears to have a less direct effect on your mood. However, it causes other issues that can lead to mood swings, such as:
Feeling fatigued
Difficulty concentrating
Difficulty seeing
Unwell feelings
Simply put, failing to keep your blood sugar within a healthy range affects your well-being. In some cases, this directly leads to mood swings. In others, it results in symptoms that significantly impact your mental health, leading to more negative moods.
Anxiety disorders
Anxiety is a common mood disorder that is particularly prevalent in diabetes patients. According to one study that looked at people with diabetes in 15 countries, 18% of those with type 2 diabetes also have an anxiety disorder.
Symptoms vary depending on the severity of this mental health condition. However, common symptoms include:
As mentioned at the beginning of the article, 25% of people with diabetes experience some form of depression. Often, this depression has a direct link to diabetes distress. The burden of managing the condition feels so overwhelming that some find it emotionally draining to the point where their mood slumps consistently.
There are several challenges associated with detecting depression in people with diabetes. Depression is a variable mental health condition, meaning the symptoms vary from person to person. Furthermore, lifestyle factors influence the condition. Those under chronic stress may develop major depression faster than those with relatively lower stress levels.
It’s crucial that diabetes patients have a healthcare team supporting them in looking for the following symptoms:
Sleep pattern changes
Lack of interest in hobbies and activities
Appetite changes
Low energy
Feelings of guilt or nervousness
Issues with concentrating
Suicidal ideology and self-harm – support should be sought at the very first sign of this symptom
Relationship challenges
The people you live with often feel as responsible for your diabetes care as you do. When glycemic variability impacts mood, you risk placing a strain on a relationship. The challenges you experience in your relationship can damage your support structure, creating more stress.
Spousal influence also plays a role in glycemic variability, as demonstrated by a 2020 study published in the Annals of Behavioral Medicine journal. It found that positive spousal influence was associated with less diabetes distress, making unstable blood sugar levels less likely. However, those experiencing a combination of distress and low-quality relationships were more likely to have mood swings. Simply put, being in a happy relationship improves your mood.
Some evidence suggests that the effects of diabetes on relationships extend beyond mood disorders. Diabetes impacts a person’s sex life, leading to issues including erectile dysfunction, lowered sex drive, and vaginal dryness. While not directly associated with mood, such issues often have psychological causes rather than physical ones.
Advice for Coping With Diabetes and Mood Swings
Self-care often lies at the heart of resolving the issues caused by diabetes and mood swings. With the following strategies, you can improve your overall well-being and make the lifestyle changes needed to reduce mood swings.
Follow your diabetes management plan
Though diabetes care can feel overwhelming, you’ve likely worked with a diabetes educator to create a plan of action.
Following that plan is a crucial strategy for overcoming the mood swings many people with diabetes experience. Your plan may include changes in lifestyle, daily medications, and scheduling for blood glucose screenings. The closer you stick to the plan you develop with your healthcare provider, the less likely you are to experience the glucose fluctuations that often cause diabetes-induced mood swings.
Check your blood sugar consistently
Your treatment plan likely includes recommended blood sugar ranges before and after your meals. Keeping track of those ranges ensures your body experiences fewer glucose-related issues that can lead to mood changes.
Watch for readings that are outside your recommended range. Record any readings that seem strange and discuss them with your doctor. While everybody overindulges or loses track occasionally, allowing either to happen consistently places you at greater risk of mood swings.
As for regulating your blood glucose, try the following to help you keep track of your meals:
Create a meal plan designed to be as diabetes-friendly as possible. This strategy may involve creating specific shopping lists and preparing the food you eat well in advance.
Automate your diabetes plan as much as possible. For example, you may set alerts on your smartphone to remind you of when to eat and when you need to check your blood sugar.
Educate those around you, so they understand why you take your meals so seriously. Through education, your friends and family can become sources of support rather than hindrances.
Increase your intake of protein and fiber. Both have low glycemic indexes, especially when compared to processed foods. Try to eat fresh food as opposed to processed food as often as possible while tracking the sugar and carbohydrate levels in your food. If you can go sugar-free, then even better. For example, try switching out traditional desserts for some tasty sugar-free options.
Speak to others
Seek the help of others whenever you start experiencing anxiety related to your condition. Those who try to go at it alone often experience a lower quality of life because they don’t have the support they need to combat diabetes distress. That lack of support also creates an environment that makes managing diabetes more challenging, increasing the likelihood of mood swings.
Confront the Issue of Diabetes and Mood Swings Directly
The key to overcoming mood swings related to diabetes is to confront the challenges you face at their source. In many cases, mood issues occur due to blood sugar variability. By taking firmer control of your sugar intake, you’re more likely to avoid the mood disorders associated with diabetes.
Having the ability to recognize the signs of mood issues also helps. The more you know about the outward symptoms of mood disorders, the more likely you are to realize the need to focus more on self-care.
Finally, take steps that help you start managing your condition more effectively. Downloading the Klinio app may be one of those steps. Our trustworthy meal app helps those with diabetes track their sugar intake and maintain a plan that ensures they’re less likely to experience mood swings as a result of diabetes.
In the United States alone, 1 out of every 10 people has diabetes. That comes to 37.3 million individuals, with a total population of 422 million estimated globally.
To optimally manage your diabetes, it becomes important to know how to track your blood glucose levels on your own. This is where a blood glucose meter comes in.
However, sometimes it can be hard to know which glucose monitoring device is most suitable for you since there are different types. Your doctor’s recommendation is usually the best, but you can also use other factors to figure it out.
That’s why in this guide, we’ll take a look at the various glucose monitor types to help you find the one you’re looking for.
What Are Glucose Monitoring Devices?
Glucose monitoring devices, also known as glucometers, are small devices that can be used to get blood glucose readings.
There are different types of blood glucose meters, including the standard blood glucose monitor (BGM), the continuous glucose monitor (CGM), and the flash glucose monitor (FGM).
Regardless of the type, a glucose monitoring system is very important in diabetes management. It allows a patient to use their medication as soon as their blood sugar levels measure above normal sugar levels and eat something when they have low blood glucose.
The Difference Between BGM, CGM, and FGM
There are three major types of blood glucose meters, and they all work to provide a patient with glucose readings, but what is the actual difference between them?
Standard blood glucose monitor (BGM)
When most people think of a blood glucose meter, they think of standard glucose monitors.
This tends to be a small machine, small enough to fit in your palm. Paired with special test strips, it can be used to measure your blood sugar level at a given time.
To use a regular glucose meter, you insert a test strip into the machine, prick your finger with a lancing tool, then place a drop of blood on the test strip.
The meter will be able to determine the glucose levels in the sample thanks to chemicals in the strip, and it will display your blood sugar level in a few seconds.
Continuous glucose monitor (CGM)
Continuous glucose monitors can provide information on a person’s glucose levels by checking them every few minutes.
Continuous glucose monitoring works by having a tiny sensor inserted under the skin of the abdomen or the upper arm. From there, the device can monitor a person’s interstitial glucose level, which is the glucose found in the interstitial fluid between the cells in the body. This is great for observing glucose trends throughout the day.
A CGM system comprises the sensor, which measures the glucose levels, and then the monitor, which wirelessly receives the information from the continuous glucose monitoring device. In some cases, the CGM system can send this glucose data directly to your smartphone.
Many CGM systems also have optional alarms that can alert you when the sensor measures your blood sugar to be too high or low. CGM systems can also be paired with an insulin pump to automatically administer insulin when sugar levels go up.
However, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, a CGM sensor cannot be used to make treatment decisions. Any changes to medication need to be made after confirming readings with a regular glucose test.
Flash glucose monitor (FGM)
A flash glucose meter is the best of both worlds between a BGM and CGM system. The sensor is attached to the back of the upper arm, where it provides continuous glucose monitoring every minute.
The primary product in this new category is the Abbott FreeStyle Libre 3 system.
What makes it great is that you can get your glucose level at a particular moment, similar to standard blood glucose monitoring. But then, just like a CGM system, FreeStyle Libre allows for continuous glucose monitoring, in this case, as far as the last 8 hours.
However, FreeStyle Libre cannot be used for glucose control as it is yet to be made compatible with any type of insulin pump.
When Do You Use a Blood Glucose Meter?
Once you are diagnosed with diabetes, it is a very good idea to get a glucometer to measure your sugar levels at home.
When it comes to standard glucose monitors, patients with type 2 diabetes should keep an eye on their glucose level, but the exact interval tends to depend on what your doctor recommends.
Patients who take insulin may need to check their glucose level before each meal, though depending on the type of insulin, some may only need to check before breakfast or bed. It all depends on your doctor’s recommendation.
However, those who just use oral hypoglycemic medications or make lifestyle changes may not even need to keep track of their glucose every day. You should make sure to follow whatever your healthcare professionals determine is best for you.
Patients with type 2 diabetes can opt for continuous monitoring, though there isn’t much evidence that a CGM device provides great benefits for patients with this type of diabetes.
How to Choose a Glucometer to Track Your Blood Sugar?
Now, deciding which glucose meter is best for you to check your glucose with can be hard. However, there are a few general guidelines you can follow to make this decision easier for you.
First off, it is recommended that you go with whichever meter your doctor recommends for you. They have prescribed many and will likely be able to let you know the best brand and type for you. They will also let you know whether CGM devices and an insulin pump are appropriate for you.
Check the meters that are a part of your insurance coverage. Some companies have a catalog of devices they cover as part of the insurance plan.
If your insurance coverage doesn’t include a glucometer, you need to take note of the cost and choose one within your budget.
Choose a glucometer that aligns with your needs for tracking your data. Some people are fine with keeping track of glucose level data in a notebook, but others might want a smart device that can store their glucose levels and even allow them to download data to a computer.
It is also a good idea to get a glucometer that you can easily sync with any app you’re using to manage your diabetes, such as Klinio. You can easily connect your glucometer with the Klinio app in a few steps.
You should also look at the special features that these meters can come with, such as a backlit display, one that can read out your results, or the kind that can store the strips in the meter itself.
Conclusion
Understanding the difference between the types of glucose monitoring devices makes it easier to choose the right one for yourself. For instance, a continuous glucose monitor has many advantages but is not appropriate for everyone.
If your doctor makes a recommendation, it is always a good idea to go along with their suggestion, as well as how many times to use it each day, according to their treatment plan. However, you may also want to consider insurance coverage, the cost of the meter, and any special features it might have.
It is always great to go with a glucometer that you can link to an app like Klinio. With Klinio, you can track your sugar levels in the app but get a more complete picture of your health by tracking medications, blood pressure, calorie intake, etc. It can also help you develop a personalized grocery list for each week and a meal plan that is made just for you. Along with your diet, exercise can improve glycemic control in people with type 2 diabetes. Klinio helps you exercise using equipment-free workouts you can do right in your living room.
Understandably, getting used to the lifestyle changes you need to control prediabetes can be difficult, but at Klinio, we know that the power of habit can make it easier for you. Let’s talk about how you can control your blood sugar levels and keep prediabetes at bay.
What Is Prediabetes?
Prediabetes is a medical condition where a person’s blood sugar level is higher than it should usually be but is lower than the blood sugar level needed to diagnose diabetes.
In many cases, prediabetes can become type 2 diabetes. A study found that after one year,nearly 40% of people with prediabetes were found to have blood sugar levels that classified as diabetes.
Blood Sugar Levels for Prediabetes
The blood sugar levels used to tell whether a person has prediabetes depend on the type of blood test they have done.
There are three main tests done to check blood glucose levels. These are:
Fasting blood sugar test
Oral glucose tolerance test
Glycated hemoglobin, also known as HbA1c, test
Fasting Blood Sugar Test
This test checks for a person’s blood sugar after they have not eaten for at least eight hours. This is usually done in the morning, after what is called an overnight fast.
When testing for a person’s fasting blood sugar level, normal blood sugar levels are 99 mg/dL or lower.
However, for someone who has prediabetes, these numbers will be from 100 to 125 mg/dL. Anything higher than that is a sign of diabetes.
Oral Glucose Tolerance Test
The oral glucose tolerance test checks a person’s blood glucose before and after they’ve drunk a liquid containing a known amount of glucose. Similar to a fasting blood sugar test, you’ll have to fast overnight.
After drinking the liquid, your blood glucose will be checked at the one-hour, two-hour, and sometimes three-hour mark.
If your blood sugar is 139 mg/dL or less after two hours, your levels are normal. However, if it is above 140 mg/dL and less than 199 mg/dL, it can be diagnosed as prediabetes.
After two hours, anything higher than 200 mg/dL points to diabetes.
Glycated Hemoglobin Test
The glycated hemoglobin test, sometimes simply called the HbA1c test, provides a way to take a look at someone’s average blood glucose over the last two or three months.
This test is measured in percentages, with less than 5.7% being considered the normal range. You can know if you have prediabetes if the value is between 5.7 and 6.4%. Any number over 6.5% indicates diabetes.
How Can I Prevent Prediabetes?
If you’ve recently been diagnosed with prediabetes, it’s understandable that you might be scared of what lies ahead. A large percentage of people with prediabetes may end up developing type 2 diabetes.
However, if you take the proper steps, you can eliminate some risk factors and reduce the chance that you progress to diabetes.
This section will guide you through the different healthy lifestyle modifications you can make that will help you prevent prediabetes from progressing.
Lose Weight
Increased body weight, especially when classed as obesity, isone of the risk factors for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes. This is because fat cells release substances that cause insulin resistance.
Losing weight can be tough, truly, but it’s been found that losing even 5 to 10% of excess weight can prevent diabetes from developing.
Klinio has features that can be a helping hand for weight loss, such asmeal plans and straightforward workouts.
Eat a Healthy Diet
Striving to stick to a healthy diet is one of the lifestyle changes that people with diabetes have to adapt to.
However, it can also be helpful for people with prediabetes to prevent it from advancing. One of the risk factors of diabetes isa diet with a lot of processed foods in it.
There are some foods you should try to reduce or remove from your diet. For instance, these include diets with a lot of:
Red meat
Processed meat
Saturated fats
Trans fats
Heavily processed carbs
Sugar-sweetened beverages
You can choose to eat a healthy range of foods, many of which can reduce the risk of prediabetes. Eat healthy foods in larger quantities, such as:
Whole grains
Fruits
Vegetables
Lean protein
Healthy fats such as olive oil, sunflower oil, and those found in fish, nuts, and avocados.
Do More Physical Activity
It’s understandable how sometimes you just don’t want to get up from the cozy spot that you’re nestled in. However, it’s been shown that when you exercise regularly, there’s less of a chance of developing type 2 diabetes.
Physical activity helps you lose weight and stay fit, as well as keeps away heart disease, so it has other perks besides reducing the risk of prediabetes.
Having to go to the gym can make it harder to keep up being active. The good thing is that Klinio gives you severalequipment-free workouts that you can do from the comfort of your home.
Reduce and Stop Smoking
When you start smoking, it can be hard to stop. You might have tried before but had little success, despite knowing that smoking is linked to many negative things like heart disease and high blood pressure.
Yet, one thing that few people know about smoking is that it also creates a high risk of insulin resistance developing.
It can be hard to quit smoking right off the bat, so you can get started by trying to cut down on how much you smoke every day. When you feel confident enough, you can switch to helpful products like nicotine gum or patches.
Drink Water Frequently
One of the easiest ways for you to battle prediabetes and stop it from moving to type 2 diabetes is to drink water.
Water helps keep your blood sugar levels well-regulated. It will also quench your thirst better than sugar-sweetened beverages, which can worsen your condition.
Use Medications When Prescribed
In some instances, the changes you make to your lifestyle might not be enough to help your prediabetes. Despite losing weight, eating more food like whole grains and vegetables, and being more active, sometimes your blood sugar level might not improve.
For people like this, your doctor may decide to prescribe prescription medications to help manage your sugar levels. Metformin is the primary choice of most physicians.
What Is the Main Cause of Prediabetes?
While the cause of prediabetes is not known, the mechanism behind it is clear. It is caused by insulin resistance.
The hormone insulin is used by the body to allow your cells to use glucose. Insulin resistance is when the cells no longer respond to insulin the way they are meant to. This makes the glucose levels in your blood increase, and when they get high enough, it is diagnosed as prediabetes.
What Gives Me a Higher Risk of Prediabetes?
Certain traits have been associated with a higher likelihood of getting prediabetes. These traits are known as risk factors.
There are quite a few of these for prediabetes and they include:
A family history of type 2 diabetes, especially having a first-degree relative (i.e., a parent or a sibling) who has diabetes
Being older than 45
Being obese or overweight
High blood pressure
Being a woman with polycystic ovary syndrome
Having developed diabetes while pregnant, a condition known as gestational diabetes
Being sedentary
Smoking tobacco
What Foods Cause Prediabetes?
No food can be said to cause prediabetes or type 2 diabetes. However, certain things in your diet can give you an increased risk of developing these conditions.
Here are some of the foods that you should attempt to avoid to reduce your risk:
Red meat e.g., beef, pork, mutton, veal
Processed meat e.g., sausages, ham, bacon, corned beef
Sugary beverages like fruit juices and soft drinks
Refined grains e.g., white rice, breakfast cereals, white bread, and foods containing white flour
Saturated and trans fat can be found in foods such as butter, baked goods, some vegetable oils, fried fast food, etc.
Conclusion
A prediabetes diagnosis can be scary to face. Yet, with the right changes to your daily life, there’s a good chance you can prevent prediabetes from becoming type 2 diabetes.
By staying at a healthy weight, improving your exercise habits, eating healthier, and leaving smoking behind, you can delay diabetes and even control prediabetes entirely.
Prediabetes is a stage of abnormal blood rise just before diabetes. This condition is serious because many patients won’t know they’re close to slipping into full-blown diabetes until it’s almost too late. In fact, most people with high blood sugar diagnoses only get one after they’ve already developed diabetes. As has been proven over time, diabetes is difficult to reverse, so experts encourage people to treat prediabetes before it develops into high blood sugar.
There’s been a pressing focus on treating prediabetes since 2017, and the emphasis has become more relevant with lots of sensitization for Americans to create insurance for prediabetes. Since the tenth version of the ICD (International Code of Diagnostics) update, there’s even a specific principal diagnosis code for prediabetes. All of this highlights the importance of treating prediabetes before it worsens.
This guide highlights prediabetes, its code and identification with the World Health Organization (WHO), and the importance of the code to patients, providers, and insurers.
What to Expect
What Is Prediabetes?
The International Code of Diagnostics (ICD) and What It Means for Prediabetes
The Specificity of the ICD-10 Code for Prediabetes?
2021 Prediabetes ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code R73.03
The History of the CODE R73.03
Are There ICD-10 Codes Related to Prediabetes Code?
Functions of the ICD-10 Code for Prediabetes in 2022
Diabetes Prevention Programs (DPPs) and Their Role in Prediabetes Management
Other Ways of Preventing Diabetes
What Is Prediabetes?
Prediabetes is a stage where high blood sugar is higher than normal but not so high that it can be diagnosed as diabetes. People with prediabetes are highly likely to be diagnosed with diabetes because the symptoms of the former aren’t so evident that people will be able to tell they need medical help.
Prediabetes has long been considered a part of the medical diagnostic-related group (DRG). For many experts, the condition is quite serious, meaning that patients will need to take it just as seriously as diabetes.
Recently, there have been many campaigns for patients to take routine blood sugar checks to know if they’re in the safe range. This is aimed to encourage healthy living among American adults. Health institutions believe early prediabetes diagnosis will help patients make much better decisions about their life and health.
Apart from the orientation of treating diabetes, the steady growth of prediabetes and the subsequent influx of diabetes has led to the World Health Organization (WHO) codifying prediabetes. Unlike the last nine versions of the WHO ICD classification, the 10th version has given prediabetes its specific code. The code was built to outline the importance of prediabetes awareness and treatment to improve the average American adult’s health.
The WHO classified prediabetes with its unique code so that patients’ providers and insurers can identify certain risk factors for the ailment and treat them with the same severity as other preventable mortality-threatening conditions. Following the classification, it’s become easier for patients to get insurance reimbursement, further diagnosis of prediabetes, and lasting treatment before they develop a worsened diabetes case.
The subsequent sections discuss prediabetes in terms of its relationship with the WHO ICD.
The International Code of Diagnostics (ICD) and What It Means for Prediabetes
The popular ICD is an abbreviation for the International Code of Diagnostics. It’s the World Health Organization’s international medical streamlining system.
The WHO started publishing diagnostic health issues with the ICD tag in 1948. The ICD version is updated over time; it’s currently in its 10th version, and it’s why all diagnostic conditions in recent times are termed ICD-10.
Virtually every country where WHO exists—over 100 countries—uses the ICD-10. As is well known, the United States is one of these countries and even provides funds to the medical organization.
The ICD-10 Is known to have more codes and specificity than the ICD-9 — its preceding version. While the ICD-9 has about 14,000 codes, the ICD-10 has over 70,000 codes (at least four times the former version).
For the ICD-9, prediabetes is classified as 790.29, representing “other abnormal glucose.” This means that prediabetes doesn’t have its specificity in the ICD-9. Rather, it shares the classification with conditions like steroid-induced hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, and other 20 conditions and symptoms.
Currently, the ICD-10-M is the classification for mortality statistics. The ICD-10-CM means clinical modification (CM) for the 10th version of the International Code for Diagnostics (ICD).
The ICD-10-CM is typically used for prediabetes and its symptoms, also known as morbidities. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) has published the categorization. For prediabetes specifically, the ICD-10-CM 73.03 is the coding specificity for the condition.
The Specificity of the ICD-10 Code for Prediabetes
The ICD-Code 10 generally deals with issues concerning high blood sugar and diabetes.
Below are some of the complications and their respective codes:
The prediabetes ICD-10 code is R73.03
The “R” in the Code for prediabetes is in line with the WHO Code section XVIII, which states, “Symptoms, signs and abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified”
The “73” means “Elevated blood glucose level”
The “.03” indicates “Prediabetes”
“R70-79” implies “Abnormal findings on examination of blood, without a diagnosis”
2021 Prediabetes ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code R73.03
The R73.03 in the ICD-10-CM code identifies prediabetes issues for reimbursement in 2021 concerning HIPAA-covered transactions. This code, however, isn’t to be used for an established diagnosis. This is because ICD-10-CM guards the code for the purposes already stated.
It can’t be used as a primary diagnosis code when there’s a definite diagnosis. “Latent diabetes” is also an inclusion term for this code as it’s considered prediabetes.
Some important facts about the ICD-10-CM R73.03 code are outlined below:
The ICD-10-CM R73.03 2018 edition became effective on the 1st of October, 2017
The ICD-10-CM R73.03 is the American coding identification for prediabetes; that of other countries can differ in terms of numbering
The ICD-10-CM R73.03 covers latent diabetes conditions as well
As stated in this article, the R73.03 code isn’t the only code for diabetes-related conditions. Other codes come before it and are related to it in the listing, as we’ll see below:
The R00-R99: This code highlights the “Symptoms, signs & abnormal clinical and laboratory findings, not elsewhere classified”
The R70-R79: This code indicates “Abnormal findings during blood examination, without any definite diagnosis”
The R73: This code simply indicates an “Elevated blood glucose level”
The R73.0: This code identifies “Abnormal glucose”
All the above codes are above R73.03 and contribute to its formation. The ICD-10-CM R73.03 falls into the diagnostic-related group (category) (MS-DRG v35.0). Other diagnostic orders in the group include “640: Miscellaneous disorders of nutrition, metabolism, fluids and electrolytes with MCC.”
The History of the CODE R73.03
Claims of reimbursement with a service date on (or after) the 1st of October 2015 were mandated to use the ICD-10-CM codes.
Here’s an outline of how the code meaning has changed over time:
2017 (effective 10/1/2016) : New Code
2018 (effective 10/1/2017): No change
Diagnosis Index entries containing back-references to R73.03
Are There ICD-10 Codes Related to Prediabetes Code?
Certain ICD-10 codes are related to the prediabetes code ICD-10-CM R73.03. For a code related to prediabetes, they have to start with R73. This guide considers at least one of these in the codes that come before R73.03;
The R73, for example, indicates “Elevated blood sugar.” This doesn’t mean prediabetes.
Also, the R73.0, “Abnormal blood sugar,” stands for the consistent rise in body temperature but not prediabetes.
The R73.9 IS one code that’s significantly related to prediabetes. It indicates “Hyperglycemia.”
Some conditions that many people will expect to have related codes with R73.03 but don’t include:
All of these codes are grouped under ICD-10 as they’re considered diagnostic. However, they have different code patterns from prediabetes. Type 2 diabetes specifically is one that’s expected to have a related coding pattern to prediabetes since the latter often preceded the former, but the reverse is the case.
Functions of the ICD-10 Code for Prediabetes in 2022
The role of ICD-10 in prediabetes and other diabetes-related conditions is to create a unified understanding among all relevant stakeholders in the medical field. Classifying prediabetes with its ICD-10-CM R73.03 code allows health providers, insurers, and patients to stay on the same page regarding diagnosis and the relevant treatment and management they need to sort out the problem.
In the United States, any health body or organization that works with a healthy body will be able to understand precisely how the code works and what they can do concerning treatment, especially in the United States, where the code is incredibly relevant for communication.
Once a diagnostic has been classified as ICD-10-CM R73.03, it significantly reduces communication difficulty and payment requirements when an insurance firm is involved in some instances.
The below sections outline how important the code for prediabetes is in the United States for all respective groups of stakeholders:
Patients
The ICD-10-CM R73.03 is made known to patients after a diagnosis, and it’s what they’ll need to point out if they have to show it to a doctor or several doctors that didn’t exactly carry out the diagnosis themselves. Patients will also need the code when relaying their condition to an insurance company.
Providers
Providers use the code to pass information about prediabetes to patients and can use it as justification for more future diagnostic tests to understand its growth, reduction, and possible treatments.
Insurers
Insurers or insurance institutions use the code to implement patients’ financial reimbursements. In fact, one of the major advantages of the code is that it aids reimbursement approval for patients.
Statistical Significance
The ICD-10-CM code is also valuable for statistical purposes. Today, the United States has millions of people with diabetes-related conditions. The only way the WHO, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the American Diabetes Association (ADA) know these numbers so accurately is via the ICD-10-CM Code.
The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS)—a body of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—uses the ICD-10 data to trace and monitor population health. The institution uses the ICD-10CM R73.03 to know the number of people diagnosed with prediabetes annually. They can practically separate people with prediabetes from those with an abnormal rise in blood sugar or already in the diabetes stage.
The center uses the data revealed to tell if people with prediabetes are growing or if there’s been an impactful reduction following the sensitization and orientation carried out by ADA and other diabetes prevention programs (DPPs) in the country. It’s through the ICD-10-CM that the United States decided to allow reimbursement of DPPs after the steady surge of prediabetes annually for the past few years.
Diabetes Prevention Programs (DPPs) and Their Role in Prediabetes Management
The Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) is one of the most effective campaigns the United States has come up with for people with prediabetes. DPPs are organized by public institutions like the CDC and a few private institutions.
DPPs are set up to help people with prediabetes reverse their blood sugar so they don’t develop diabetes. Several DPPs have succeeded in putting patients on the right track. Their primary approach is to help patients change their diet and live healthy lives.
More importantly, research has shown that patients admitted into DPPs have achieved higher success controlling and reversing their dangerously high blood sugar than those who attempt to do so themselves.
DPPs are incredibly helpful because patients are usually placed in a community of people with the same prediabetes issues. Together, they’re given personal assistants to help them achieve their goals and report their progress. So far, the result has shown that the campaigns have been incredibly effective.
Here are some of the major DPPs currently available:
CDC National Diabetes Prevention Program (CDC DPP)
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been at the forefront of handling prediabetes issues with its diabetes prevention program. The program, like others, is dependent on dieting and exercising.
Patients are taught and guided to get the best management treatment to enable them to reverse their condition and live healthier. Remarkably, the CDC DPP has achieved a lot of success in treating and reversing prediabetes.
YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program (YMCA DPP)
Although the YMCA isn’t as popular as the CDC, it’s just as effective in helping patients prevent diabetes by nipping prediabetes at the bud. The YMCA has helped men and women with the best management tips and professional health experts to treat their condition and live much healthier.
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Diabetes Prevention Program (NIDDK DPP)
The NIDDK is another body committed to helping people with prediabetes treat their condition to live and lead a healthy life. Suffice it to say, the organization has helped people with top relevant treatments to handle their condition and reverse it.
Other Ways of Preventing Diabetes
While DPPs remains one of the most viable options, not every healthy person can afford to get registered. Thankfully, there are other ways that patients can treat and manage the condition.
The good thing is that the management method for prediabetes is similar to that of symptomatic diabetes. Below are some of the ways that people with prediabetes could manage their health:
Diet
DPPs are based on dieting. If people who can’t enlist in the program manager to control how much they eat, they’d have handled up to 50% of their troubles.
Medications aren’t recommended for prediabetes; on the other hand, natural methods like dieting are known to work wonders.
People with prediabetes must avoid foods filled with pure carbs, too much fat, or high sodium. The best foods to eat are those enriched with vitamins and minerals like magnesium and fiber. Several meal choices meet this criterion, and people who eat them can control their blood sugar better.
Exercising
Exercising is just as important as dieting. People with prediabetes can manage their condition better with proper eating and exercise.
Exercising with proper dieting burns off fats and reduces blood sugar drastically. It’s been proven to work many times, and it’s why many health institutions recommend exercising and cardiovascular activities alongside dieting.
Some of the best forms of exercise include running, brisk walking, jogging, swimming, and resistance training. Other more intensive forms include sprinting and high-intensity interval training (HIIT).
Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting is often recommended for people who’re already diagnosed with diabetes or are keen on losing weight. However, prediabetes patients seeking to reduce their blood sugar faster can also opt for this method. The intermittent fasting method is reliable and consistently keeps to it, leading to fast weight reduction and better living.
Intermittent fasting simply means having a restricted time frame for eating. Once a person has an intermittent fast, they’re likely to eat only twice daily.
Some may start to eat for the day by 11 am and eat their last meal by 7 pm. During that time, they may only drink water and very low-carb juice. They may also eat a significantly light lunch.
According to many experts, the best restricted time window is the 16:8 window. This window means patients can only eat twice within 8 hours and not within the remaining 16 hours. People who eat by 11 am will have their last meal at a maximum of 7 pm, giving them enough time to sleep and rest.
Conclusion
Treating prediabetes is the best way to manage diabetes mellitus. Once a person develops prediabetes, they’re at a heightened risk of developing diabetes, a serious condition that can lead to death.
This guide considers prediabetes and the importance that health institutions now accord it such that it has its peculiar classification. As was revealed, the International Code of Diagnostics (ICD) for prediabetes is R73.03. This code is available in the tenth version of the ICD and has found use amongst patients’ health providers and insurers according to their ascribed limits.
The high level of attention towards prediabetes is rooted in how it’s become a serious concern over the years. Patients can now get insured for prediabetes treatment and apply practical management tips to manage the condition.
Dieting is one of the best management tips that people with prediabetes must take seriously. With dieting, people can quickly reverse prediabetes and live healthier lives. One of the best ways they can do so is to adhere to a diabetes-friendly diet through a diabetes management app.
A diabetes management app helps people with diabetes and prediabetes regain blood sugar control. OurKlinio app is one of the trustworthy meal apps that people with prediabetes can trust at any time.
Our app provides prediabetes and diabetes patients with the best food to eat in terms of taste and blood sugar. This virtual caregiver also helps people with these conditions keep a good routine by providing them with a weekly and monthly plan for their meal choice.
Currently, World Diabetes Day, or WDD, is the world’s largest diabetes awareness campaign reaching over 1 billion people in more than 169 countries worldwide. The campaign raises awareness of issues that are of the utmost importance to people with diabetes and keeps the disease firmly in the public and political spotlight.
Understanding Diabetes
Diabetes or diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease where blood glucose levels are too high. It may occur if your body produces insufficient insulin or ineffective insulin, or when your body can’t produce any insulin at all.
Sadly, diabetes puts people at risk for various other medical issues, such as nerve damage, cardiovascular disease, foot and limb injuries, and vision problems, among others. Understanding diabetes and how to manage it is, therefore, more crucial than ever.
Types of diabetes
Here are the main types of diabetes:
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disorder that typically arises before adulthood and causes the body’s own insulin-producing cells to be destroyed by the immune system.
Type 2 diabetes is a condition that develops when the body cannot use insulin properly to control blood sugar and typically happens in middle age.
Gestational diabetes is a condition that happens during pregnancy where the body improperly uses insulin, similar to type 2 diabetes.
Prediabetes, while not technically a type of diabetes, is a serious medical condition where blood sugar levels are elevated but not yet to the point where type 2 diabetes would be diagnosed.
However, the most common type of diabetes is type 2, with up to 95% of cases in the US alone.
Diabetes affects 537 million adults (20–79 years old), or 1 in every 10. Sadly, this figure is expected to rise to 643 million by 2030 and 783 million by 2045.
Almost 1 in 2 adults (44%) with diabetes are undiagnosed (240 million). The vast majority have type 2 diabetes.
Type 1 diabetes affects over 1.2 million children and adolescents aged 0 to 19.
Diabetes caused 6.7 million deaths in 2021.
High blood glucose (hyperglycemia) affects 1 in every 6 live births (21 million).
History of World Diabetes Day
In response to mounting worries about the disease’s growing threat to public health, the International Diabetes Foundation (IDF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) created World Diabetes Day in 1991 on November 14th.
Now, WDD, which includes hundreds of campaigns, events, screenings, lectures, meetings, and other activities, demonstrates its effectiveness in spreading the word about diabetes and increasing public awareness of the disease worldwide.
Why November 14th?
World Diabetes Day is commemorated each year on Sir Frederick Banting’s birthday, November 14th, who co-discovered insulin with Charles Best in 1922. Although it was recognized by the government through the 1990s and the beginning of the 2000s, WDD remained largely unnoticed until 2006, when the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) successfully lobbied for the United Nations to issue a resolution the following year, formally recognizing it for the first time.
The IDF organizes World Diabetes Day and selects a different theme each year.
The growing number of diabetes patients places additional strain on healthcare systems. Healthcare professionals must be able to detect and diagnose diabetes early in order to provide the best possible care, while people living with diabetes require ongoing education to understand their condition and carry out the daily self-care required to stay healthy and avoid complications.
Therefore, the theme of the World Diabetes Day 2021–23 campaign for the second year is “Education to Protect Tomorrow.”
Why Is This Day So Important?
There are 3 reasons why November 14th is so important.
Firstly, it draws attention to the diabetes epidemic. According to the statistics, diabetes diagnoses increased by roughly 380% over a 25-year period (from 1988 to 2013). And these diagnoses are dangerous – the WHO predicts that by 2030, diabetes will be the 7th leading cause of death worldwide. This condition requires attention, which is why dedicating an entire day to it is critical.
Secondly, type 2 diabetes can be easily avoided. World Diabetes Day serves as a great reminder to live healthier lives. Type 2 diabetes can be controlled with healthy lifestyle choices, such as a healthy diet, regular physical activity, and maintaining a healthy weight.
Finally, this day is a great reminder to stay educated about diabetes. Type 2 diabetes has reached epidemic proportions, but type 1 diabetes, formerly known as juvenile diabetes, is just as dangerous to one’s health. Type 1 diabetes affects approximately 1.25 million Americans, but the cause of the disease is unknown. However, the health consequences are just as severe as type 2 diabetes. World Diabetes Day serves as a reminder to be aware of diabetes symptoms, get tested, and receive treatment.
How Do We Mark World Diabetes Day?
To participate in and observe World Diabetes Day, many people worldwide wear a blue circle logo symbol dedicated to diabetes awareness. So, on this day, wear a t-shirt, necklace, or bracelet with the logo, or make one yourself to raise awareness of this dangerous disease and its consequences.
Also, to commemorate WDD, many healthcare professionals, businesses, and public figures host a variety of activities to raise awareness. These include a range of activities and events, such as:
Meetings and lectures to spread public information
Sports events
Television and radio programs
Brochure and poster campaigns
Exhibitions, conferences, and others
Many individuals also work with health officials to host a diabetes fair at their workplace or home to learn more about this disease.
Ultimately, getting tested for diabetes is a great addition to observing World Diabetes Day. Diabetes symptoms include, but are not limited to, excessive urine excretion, thirst, constant hunger, weight loss, vision changes, and fatigue. Plus, being overweight or obese increases the likelihood of developing type 2 diabetes. Therefore, World Diabetes Day can be a great reminder to get tested if you have any risk factors or symptoms of diabetes.
Conclusion
537 million people worldwide suffer from diabetes, and many of them don’t even know they have it. Keeping this in mind, the IDF and WHO created a day to raise awareness of diabetes and its escalating effects. So, let’s mark this day by learning more about this serious medical condition and spreading the word about it.
A condition known as prediabetes is what’s experienced before the significant illness steps in. Patients can live with this condition for years unknown to them, and sometimes if no changes in lifestyle are made, it morphs into diabetes.
There are lots of ways to know if you have prediabetes. In this regard, it’s vital to take note of specific symptoms and perform regular tests to be in the know about your health condition. Early knowledge about a prediabetes condition can be incredibly helpful in managing the disease and even reversing its effect.
In this guide, you’ll discover those symptoms that indicate a prediabetes condition. You’ll also learn what the risk factors of prediabetes are. Other sections cover how to manage the condition and reverse it.
What to Expect
What Is Prediabetes?
What Causes Prediabetes?
Common Signs and Symptoms of Prediabetes
Prominent Prediabetes Risk Factors
Tests to Determine Prediabetes
Prediabetes Complications
Managing and Reversing Prediabetes
What Is Prediabetes?
Prediabetes occurs when too much sugar exists in your body but not enough to count as type 2 diabetes. Typically, an individual is said to have diabetes when their blood sugar level sits at 200 mg/dL or above. However, if your blood sugar level reads between 141 and 199 mg/dL, you might have prediabetes.
Statistics show that an incredible amount of the US adult population has prediabetes. As of 2019, about 96 million adults aged 18 and above had this condition.
As common as this illness is, many are unaware they’re living with it. According to the CDC, over 80% of people with prediabetes don’t know they have it. Usually, it doesn’t show symptoms until it becomes severe or has developed into type 2 diabetes.
When left untreated, prediabetes can cause significant long-term damage to key organs like the heart or kidneys. It can as well affect blood vessels and other body parts. Because most individuals have no idea they have this condition, they don’t make the essential lifestyle changes that can help them manage it.
However, one can reverse, or better still, manage prediabetes when diagnosed early. Early diagnosis can also help ensure prediabetes doesn’t progress into type 2 diabetes. Hence, the need to watch out for some obvious signs or symptoms that may indicate prediabetes.
What Causes Prediabetes?
The body runs on glucose as its primary source of fuel. It gets this fuel primarily by breaking down carbohydrates. After breaking down carbs into glucose, they’re pumped into the bloodstream, and the excess gets stored. With the help of the hormone “insulin,” secreted by the pancreas, glucose is transported into the cells to provide the needed energy.
However, with a condition like prediabetes, your body doesn’t respond appropriately to insulin, prompting the pancreas to make more of it to meet the body’s demands. With a large amount of insulin left unused, the pancreas tires out and stops producing more. Hence, most glucose remains in the bloodstream, as it’s not used by your body cells.
When this happens, blood sugar rises, translating into a prediabetes condition. Over time, when left untreated, prediabetes can eventually transform into type 2 diabetes. At this stage, it might be too late to reverse the condition.
Common Signs and Symptoms of Prediabetes
Prediabetes can be considered a silent disease that can increase the risk of developing cardiovascular illnesses like heart disease, stroke, etc. This is because it rarely indicates any signs or symptoms in its early stage, making many patients unaware of this condition.
However, depending on the severity of prediabetes, patients tend to show specific symptoms. Although some of these symptoms can also point to other ailments, they’re worth confirming with your doctor. Worthy of mention is that these symptoms are much similar to diabetes symptoms.
Here are some of the early signs that may point to prediabetes:
Increased Hunger
With a condition like prediabetes, your body either lacks insulin or can’t utilize the available one. When your body doesn’t respond to insulin as it should, it leaves a lot of glucose in your bloodstream. This causes your body cells to starve due to limited or no access to the much-needed glucose.
The absence of glucose to fuel your body cells makes them weak. Hence, your brain signals you to eat more so the cells can get the energy they need. This makes your body crave more food, even after eating a large serving. It just feels like you aren’t getting enough.
Excessive hunger is one of the significant symptoms of prediabetes you want to look out for. Although, your body tries to compensate for the lack of energy in the cells by taking in more food. Unfortunately, they also get stuck in the bloodstream, raising the sugar in your system even more.
Overeating can have other dire consequences on your health, such as impaired brain function and increased body fat.
Frequent Urination
Sugar isn’t meant to be in the bloodstream in high amounts for an extended period. Hence, when the body can’t use all the excess glucose, it naturally tries to get rid of it.
Your kidney works to ensure balance in bodily fluid. With a condition like prediabetes, too much sugar exists in the blood that the kidney tries to absorb significantly. To get rid of them, it passes the excess sugar to the bladder, filling it with fluid to eject the sugar. This prompts the body to urinate more often than usual.
The average human urinates an average of 5 times per day. While some people visit the stall less than three times daily, others can go about seven times daily. However, when you start peeing more than seven times a day, it might be an indication of prediabetes.
Frequent urination has a strong correlation with diabetes. The process also takes its toll on the kidney, making the individual more susceptible to chronic kidney disease.
Increased Thirst
To get rid of the excess sugar, the body extracts fluid from the body, which the bladder uses to flush the sugar out of the system. Consequently, as you expel more fluid, your body experiences dehydration. Hence, the body shows signs of dehydration from a lack of fluids. When you seem a lot thirstier than usual, this can be an indication of prediabetes.
People diagnosed with prediabetes tend to experience signs of dehydration needing water to compensate for the one lost via frequent urination. Usually, you might not take note of this symptom until it becomes insatiable. Increased thirst tends to go hand in hand with frequent urination, with the latter preceding the former.
Blurred Vision
Excess blood sugar is generally unsafe and, if left unattended, can cause significant damage to body organs. Your eyes are also at risk if you start experiencing elevated blood sugar levels. Hence, one of the common warning signs of prediabetes is blurred vision.
The blood vessels in the eyes start to swell and rupture due to high blood sugar levels — a condition known as diabetic retinopathy. Although it’s more common in people with full-blown diabetes, it can also manifest at the prediabetes stage. Diagnosing retinopathy early in prediabetes is essential to prevent vision damage or even ultimate blindness.
If you notice your vision is getting blurry over time, this might indicate prediabetes. Blurry vision can also indicate other serious eye problems like astigmatism and myopia. However, this is one of the early warning signs of prediabetes you can’t ignore.
Fatigue
People experience fatigue for various reasons, and prediabetes is one of such. Fatigue in people with diabetes can be associated with fluctuation in blood sugar levels, especially when it’s on the rise.
The body either doesn’t produce enough insulin or experiences insulin resistance with prediabetes. This translates to the body not getting the energy it needs from glucose or a minimal amount of the same.
With all the essential glucose the body needs, unable to reach the cells, it becomes weak. The body shows signs of fatigue to indicate this. Fatigue may manifest alongside other symptoms like headache, dizziness, muscle weakness, loss of motivation, etc.
Suffice it to say, with prediabetes, one might still experience fatigue right after eating a proper meal and resting well.
Weight Loss or Gain
As mentioned earlier, one of the symptoms of prediabetes is increased hunger. The natural response of any individual is to eat when hungry. Hence, people with prediabetes will eat more than usual, even if they just had a meal not long ago. When you consume more than you need, your body stores the excess, which in turn causes you to gain weight.
On the other hand, you can also lose significant weight due to prediabetes. The body naturally runs with glucose metabolism. However, when glucose is unavailable, it switches to using fat as fuel in ketosis.
Scientists have tied ketosis to helping with weight loss. Many opt for the ketogenic diet to help them lose some weight. However, your body can naturally enter ketosis if it doesn’t have enough glucose to use as fuel.
Hence, if you notice you have gained or lost a significant amount of weight over a short time, you may have prediabetes.
Prominent Prediabetes Risk Factors
Practicing relatively healthy lifestyle habits can shield you from having diabetes. However, you can still experience prediabetes at specific periods in your life as various risk factors can predispose you to prediabetes.
Here are some of the risk factors closely associated with prediabetes:
Age
Like most chronic illnesses, age is a significant risk factor for prediabetes. As you age, your risk of developing prediabetes increases.
According to the CDC, about one-third of US adults had prediabetes between 2005 and 2020. What’s more, people of older ages are more at risk of developing the illness than younger people.
Research on the prevalence of prediabetes clearly states older age is one of the factors that contribute to developing prediabetes. Aging increases insulin resistance, making older people less able to process glucose effectively. Also, the long-term effect of some habits starts to show as you age, some of which increase the chances of having prediabetes.
According to the American Diabetes Association (ADA), both types of diabetes have specific links to genetics. However, type 2 diabetes has a more pronounced link to family history.
The German Center for Diabetes Research performed an analysis to check the connection between family history and prediabetes. This study—conducted on a population of 8,106 people without diabetes—concluded that people with a family history of diabetes are at higher risk of developing prediabetes, which is more pronounced in the non-obese.
Diet
Your diet plays a vital role in how healthy you’ll be. In other words, choosing the right food to eat safeguards you from illnesses caused by an unhealthy diet.
The body gets its energy from carbohydrates, making it an essential food class for most people. However, food high in carb content has been linked to an increased risk of prediabetes. Over time, they contribute to spikes in blood sugar levels.
Also, consuming red and processed meat increases the risk of developing prediabetes. Coupled with that, lots of individuals tend to indulge in the habit of drinking sugary beverages. Most of these sugar-sweetened beverages contain a high amount of carbohydrates in the form of sugar, potentially increasing blood sugar levels.
Weight
Being overweight has been linked to various serious health complications, including prediabetes. For one, too much fat in the body affects how insulin works in your system and can eventually result in insulin resistance. Hence, people with higher body weights are more likely to develop diabetes due to excess body fat.
Excess weight also increases the chance of developing type 2 diabetes. In this paper on “Weight Management: Obesity to Diabetes,” about two-thirds of the US population was said to be overweight in 2015. It further stresses the importance of weight management in preventing prediabetes from developing into type 2 diabetes.
Sedentary Lifestyle
According to WHO, a staggering 60–85% of the world’s population leads a sedentary lifestyle. This kind of lifestyle increases the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases such as heart disease, and stroke as well as diabetes, cancer, obesity, etc. Although the more significant percentage of inactive people are adults, statistics show about two-thirds of children also lead sedentary lives.
While a physically active lifestyle can shield you from many illnesses, being inconsistent can potentially increase the risk of certain diseases like prediabetes. Therefore, it’s not enough to take a walk once in a while.
Sleep Apnea
Sleep is essential to any living organism’s life, and not getting enough of it can have dire effects on one’s health. Scientists have explored the relationship between sleep and diabetes and found a significant correlation.
Not getting enough sleep can increase your risk of developing prediabetes. A large number of people experience obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) — a condition where the airways are obstructed, leading to disturbance in the sleep cycle.
Scientists have observed a significant relationship between sleep apnea and prediabetes. A paper on OSA and diabetes shows the condition can affect glucose metabolism, leading to insulin resistance. OSA can also contribute to weight gain in some individuals.
Gestational Diabetes
During pregnancy, the body secretes certain hormones, affecting insulin usage. These hormones temporarily make the body less reactive to insulin, causing blood glucose levels to rise — a condition known as gestational diabetes.
About 10% of pregnancies in the US have a record case of gestational diabetes each year. Moreover, having gestational diabetes at one point increases the risk of developing prediabetes later in life for both the child and the mother.
Additional Notes
Risk factors of diabetes aren’t limited to the ones listed above. Other risk factors associated with this illness include:
Ethnicity or race
High blood pressure
Smoking
High cholesterol
Note that these risk factors don’t guarantee the development of diabetes down the line. For instance, an individual with a family history of diabetes might not have this illness throughout their life. However, keeping these risk factors in mind will help you take the necessary caution in preventing the development of prediabetes.
Tests to Determine Prediabetes
The above prediabetes symptoms might present in a way that you can’t directly link them to the illness. However, by noting such symptoms, your doctor can perform some tests to determine if you have prediabetes.
You may need to take these tests more than once to confirm their results. Your doctor might only need to perform one of them to figure out if you have prediabetes or not.
If you notice any prediabetes symptoms, you can inform your healthcare provider to perform any of these tests. Also, if you have a family history of diabetes or your mother had gestational diabetes before birthing you, taking one of these tests is the best way to go.
Prediabetes Complications
When not properly managed, prediabetes can lead to severe complications, some of which can be life-threatening. Not only can prediabetes result in type 2 diabetes without treatment, but it also starts doing damaging work on specific organs, which can result in problems like:
Kidney disease
High blood pressure
Blindness
Heart disease
Stroke
Nerve damage
Amputations
Fatty liver disease
However, prediabetes is an easily reversible condition unlike type 1 and type 2 diabetes. In the next section, you’ll find ways to manage the effects of prediabetes and possibly reverse the condition.
Managing and Reversing Prediabetes
Diabetes is a lifelong illness with no cure; the only existing treatments are those that help manage the condition. However, the prediabetes stage can be considered a window of opportunity for preventing diabetes from fully developing. Records show people have successfully reversed prediabetes by taking specific life-changing steps.
Below are some things to consider doing in a bid to reverse prediabetes:
Eat Healthily
A healthy meal can’t be overemphasized for almost anyone. However, life happens, and most people tend to dabble in unhealthy eating habits that significantly affect their health in the long term.
To reverse the effect of prediabetes, consider opting for a cleaner diet containing less processed and sugar-filled foods. Avoid consuming large quantities of carbohydrates, especially if you have been diagnosed with prediabetes. Reduce or eliminate foods containing added sugar as these can increase blood sugar levels, and take less red meat.
Health professionals recommend a less fat-filled diet, except if you opt for diet options like the ketogenic diet, which contains more healthy fat. Consider a plant-based diet consisting of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, etc. Foods like fish and lean meats are also healthier alternatives to red meat.
Exercise Regularly
Getting enough physical exercise helps you maintain a healthier weight and aids your mental health. It helps lower blood sugar by making your cells more responsive to insulin. Although exercise is an excellent tool for battling prediabetes, ensure you don’t overdo it.
If you have just kickstarted your exercise journey, take on a more straightforward exercise routine and build up from there. You can begin by exercising about 15 minutes daily and gradually increase this time as you get accustomed to these routines. You want to aim for about 60 minutes of physical activity daily.
Quit Smoking
Smoking triggers loads of health issues, including diabetes. It causes insulin resistance which can eventually lead to prediabetes.
Consider replacing cigarette sticks with nicotine patches or gum. You can also check out programs that aid in quitting smoking.
Eliminate Stress
Stress is one of the leading contributors to health complications. When stressed, your body releases certain hormones that aid insulin resistance and spike blood sugar levels.
Taking adequate rest is essential in reversing prediabetes. Avoid emotional stress as well by doing recreative extracurricular activities.
Visit relaxation spots to distress and unwind from that long busy day. Taking occasional vacations is another excellent way to help your body recuperate from accumulated stress.
Sleep Well
Doctors advise having at least 8 hours of sleep daily. Unfortunately, the reality is that most people barely follow these recommendations.
Sleep deprivation increases your risk of developing prediabetes and further heightens its effect if you’re already diagnosed with this condition. On the flip side, getting adequate sleep will significantly help reverse the effects of prediabetes.
Sleep apnea is a condition that contributes to the development of prediabetes by causing insulin resistance. Treating this condition will help improve the quality of sleep.
Conclusion
Although prediabetes presents an acceptable window of opportunity to prevent the development of type 2 diabetes, its presence can also go unnoticed. Hence, you must watch out for peculiar symptoms that might indicate prediabetes.
Some of the warning signs of this condition can be similar to that of other illnesses. A good approach to deciphering them is to ask your healthcare provider to carry out an oral glucose tolerance test (OGGT), a fasting plasma glucose test, or a hemoglobin A1C test to confirm if you have prediabetes or not.
Making the appropriate lifestyle changes, like eating healthy and getting the right amount of exercise, can prevent your prediabetes condition from morphing into diabetes. Our diabetes management application, Klinio, can help you with these critical tasks.
Our app offers an up-to-date food catalog specially reviewed by health professionals and deemed appropriate for managing diabetes. You also get access to the various exercise regimes well suited for reversing the effects of prediabetes.
But if you have diabetes, getting insufficient sleep has a negative impact on all aspects of your life, including how much and what you eat, how you choose to eat, how you react to insulin, and how you feel mentally.
According to clinical studies, as many as 48% of individuals with type 2 diabetes also have been diagnosed with sleep apnea. Even more startling is that researchers believe that 86% of obese type 2 diabetes patients suffer from sleep apnea.
So, let’s unwrap this relationship between diabetes and sleep apnea and how it can impact diabetes management.
What Is Sleep Apnea?
Sleep apnea is when your breathing stops and starts while you sleep. The most prevalent type of sleep apnea is obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Sleep apnea leaves the body deprived of oxygen which, in turn, disrupts heart function, blood pressure, and metabolism. These effects can be severe and make it crucial for people with diabetes to understand and treat sleep apnea when it occurs.
Sleep apnea is a breathing disorder, not a sleep disorder, that can be brought on by bad sleep habits or various physical or mental conditions.
What are other signs of sleep apnea, you might ask? Here are some of the main signs of sleep apnea:
Loud snoring
Gaps in breathing
Choking or gasping for air
Daytime sleepiness
Waking up a lot
The lack of oxygen caused by sleep apnea interferes with the heart’s normal rhythm, blood pressure, and metabolism. Due to the potential severity of these effects, it is critical for people, especially those with diabetes, to comprehend and effectively manage sleep apnea when it manifests.
For now, let’s look at diabetes and its prevalence worldwide.
Diabetes Mellitus Prevalence
Diabetes is a long-term chronic illness that affects how your body converts food into energy.
Most of the food you consume is converted into sugar (glucose), which is then released into your bloodstream. Your pancreas releases insulin when your blood sugar levels rise. Blood sugar is allowed into your body’s cells by insulin so that it can be used as energy.
Diabetes is a disease that affects 537 million people worldwide, or 1 in every 10 people, according to 2021 data. But the total number of people with diabetes is expected to rise dramatically, reaching 643 million by 2030 and 783 million by 2045.
Christine Zalnieraite, Head of Nutrition at Klinio, once said that “more than 95% of people with diabetes worldwide have type 2 diabetes. Due to unhealthy lifestyle choices and, often, a lack of knowledge, people increasingly get diagnosed with this condition, leading to the rise of cases at an alarming rate.”
The Most Common Form of Sleep Apnea
There are several types of sleep apnea, such as central sleep apnea and complex sleep apnea syndrome, but the most common one is obstructive sleep apnea. This type of severe sleep apnea happens when the muscles in your throat relax. These muscles support the soft palate, the triangular piece of tissue that hangs from the soft palate (uvula), the tonsils, the throat side walls, and the tongue.
When you relax your muscles, your airway narrows or closes as you breathe. Here, you aren’t getting enough oxygen in your blood because you aren’t getting enough air. Your brain detects your inability to breathe and briefly wakes you up so you can reopen your airway. This awakening is usually so brief that you will forget about it.
You may sneeze, choke, or gasp. This pattern can repeat itself 5–30 times or more per hour, all night, impairing your ability to achieve deep and restful sleep.
What’s the Relationship Between Sleep Apnea and Diabetes?
Type 2 diabetes is frequently associated with obesity, high blood pressure, and cardiovascular disease, but new research has identified another condition that is also linked: sleep apnea.
You might ask whether sleep apnea causes diabetes. Well, we can tell you that it doesn’t directly cause it. However, many people with diabetes also suffer from sleep apnea and vice versa. This is due to the fact that the risk factors for sleep apnea are the same for diabetes, though you can develop one or both conditions even if you don’t have any risk factors. So, although sleep apnea is not a cause of diabetes, it can have an impact on an existing diabetes diagnosis.
Does Sleep Apnea Cause Blood Sugar Fluctuations?
The main way that sleep apnea affects diabetes is through an increase in blood carbon dioxide levels caused by periods of not breathing while sleeping. Increased blood CO2 levels aggravate insulin resistance. Insulin is the hormone that transports glucose from the blood into your cells and is used as energy. Insulin resistance complicates this process, resulting in higher blood sugar levels.
This is especially problematic for people with diabetes attempting to control already elevated blood glucose levels. Aside from its effect on glucose levels, sleep apnea and other sleep disruptions can have a negative impact on the progression of diabetes and the development of complications. The oxygen deprivation associated with poor-quality sleep raises blood pressure and worsens heart function. So, controlling your diabetes while suffering from sleep apnea can be a bit complicated.
Prevention and Treatment: How to Manage Sleep Apnea With Diabetes?
Most doctors and medical professionals agree that taking steps toward prevention whenever possible is preferable to treating a condition after it has developed. The same is true for treating sleep apnea, though not all cases can be avoided. However, the best way to prevent sleep apnea is by making some lifestyle changes, such as reducing alcohol consumption, quitting smoking, starting a healthy and balanced diet with regular exercising, avoiding sleep medications that relax the muscles in your throat, and finally, sleeping on the side rather than on your back.
When managing sleep apnea and diabetes, typical diabetes management practices, such as blood glucose control, a diabetes-friendly diet, regular exercising, and taking prescribed medications, are great starting points to begin sleep apnea treatment. However, there are a couple more ways to treat it.
Firstly, begin addressing any allergy issues you might have that can interfere with your breathing. Your doctor might recommend you take some sort of medication to keep the sinuses open and clear.
Secondly, weight loss can greatly benefit treating sleep apnea, especially the most common one – obstructive sleep apnea. Here, weight loss relieves pressure on the chest cavity and reduces the likelihood of fat accumulating in the airway passage. Therefore, addressing weight issues can decrease the likelihood of disordered breathing.
Another method of treating sleep apnea is the continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine, which can be prescribed to sleep apnea patients. While sleeping, the individual wears a mask. A hose and a device that delivers pressurized air are attached to the mask. The pressurized air keeps the airway open, preventing sleep-disordered breathing disruptions.
The final potential treatment method is surgery, which involves removing or shrinking tissue from the back of the mouth or the top of the neck. Removing this soft tissue makes the airway less likely to become obstructed while sleeping.
Conclusion
Unfortunately, the consequences of sleep apnea go far beyond feeling tired in the morning. Sleep apnea can affect your glucose levels at all times, change how your body responds to insulin, and contribute to diabetes complications later in life. Therefore, finding the best treatment and prevention methods is crucial to minimizing sleep apnea symptoms.
Suppose you struggle to manage your diabetes and sleep apnea at the same time. In that case, our diabetes management program, Klinio, is one of your best bets for effectively managing diabetes and sleep, followed by a personalized diabetes-friendly diet, custom workouts, and health-tracking features.
Diabetes management and treatment require patients to no longer do certain things—or at least as much as they used to—that they formerly did. To control blood sugar spikes, patients are mandated to control their diet, exercise more regularly, stop unhealthy lifestyle habits which they’re used to, take medications, and regularly book appointments with a specialist in severe cases. All of these requirements usually leave patients worried and stranded such that they find them difficult to implement.
Due to the strain diabetes management imparts on patients, specialists have considered it more expedient if patients start to control their blood sugar levels from the stage of prediabetes. Prediabetes, as the name implies, is that stage just before diabetes. The good part is that the treatment used for controlling prediabetes is also used for managing diabetes.
However, the strictness of the latter isn’t required for the former. This guide considers what prediabetes is all about. People with high blood sugar will know what prediabetes is, its blood sugar range, how to reverse it, and different effective steps for full and proper treatment.
What To Expect
An Overview of What Prediabetes Entails
The Risk Factor of Prediabetes
The Complications of Prediabetes
How to Reverse Prediabetes
When to Meet a Doctor
Medication for Prediabetes
How Health Apps Help Against Prediabetes
The Role of Diabetes Prevention Programs (DPPs)
An Overview of What Prediabetes Entails
Prediabetes is the stage just before patients develop diabetes; most people experience prediabetes before developing diabetes. The two have a common characteristic of high blood sugar levels. However, the difference is that the blood sugar level of prediabetes is significantly lower than what would be considered diabetes.
People with prediabetes will eventually develop diabetes if deliberate management methods aren’t implemented. On the bright side, there’s a high success rate of patients successfully reversing prediabetes and preventing diabetes.
However, patients will mostly need a prediabetes diagnosis. Without a diagnosis, many patients will develop diabetes. Since diabetes worsens insulin resistance and leads to severe complications like stroke and heart and kidney disease, it becomes more incumbent to treat prediabetes.
The next sections will highlight more about prediabetes and all patients need to know about managing and reversing their condition.
The Risk Factor of Prediabetes
Certain conditions and factors project your chances of developing prediabetes to astronomical heights, as we’ll observe below:
Waist Size
While a large waist size can be seen as a result of excess fat, it can also indicate insulin resistance — a marker of prediabetes. The risk factor of insulin resistance can go up for men and women with waist sizes of over 40 and 35 inches for men and women, respectively.
Overweight
Obesity is a common risk factor for prediabetes; the more your tissues become fatty, the more prone you become to insulin resistance. Too much fat in tissue can lead to health complications like atherosclerosis. This can further lead to dangerous complications leading to the individual’s death.
Diet
People who consume foods high in carbs are subject to a great risk of prediabetes. Avoiding foods like processed meat and sugar-sweetened beverages is an excellent approach to averting prediabetes. You can consult with your qualified dietician to help you with a guide on the appropriate meal and drink to take.
Inactivity
If you’re less active, you’re more prone to the risk of prediabetes. While physical activities help provide energy and improve an individual’s health, they also sensitize the body cells to insulin. This further helps to curb unusual spikes in blood sugar levels. Hence, it’s encouraged to be involved in exercises for an average of 15–30 minutes daily.
Sleep Apnea
People that have obstructive respiration during sleep experience a great risk of prediabetes. This is a result of the relaxation of the muscles of the throat, common among persons that are overweight and obese. For one, people with sleep apnea have an increased risk of insulin resistance. In this light, it’s advised to see a doctor once you notice difficulty breathing during sleep.
The Complications of Prediabetes
Prediabetes may worsen and present alongside certain deadly conditions if not managed properly. Let’s have a look at the common ones.
Coronary Artery Diseases
Coronary heart diseases have to do with diseases that affect the heart; these ailments put you at risk of a heart attack, underscoring the need to treat prediabetes as a matter of urgency. This is a major complication as coronary vessels are those involved in the blood supply to and around the heart. This condition is triggered by deposits of fatty substances in the large blood vessels of the heart.
Stroke
This is another dreadful health complication of prediabetes. It’s a brain disorder that results from a lack of or inadequate blood supply to the brain.
Peripheral Artery Disease
This is caused by a diminished blood flow to peripheral parts of the body, like the legs. The vessels of blood supply are mostly affected. This can result in deep pain in the muscles of the legs, and the calves called claudication.
Just like coronary artery diseases, this is also caused by fat deposition in blood vessels of the peripheral body parts.
Retinopathy
The complications of prediabetes are so extensive that they also affect the eyes. Retinopathy is a disease of the eye that can lead to blindness. When prediabetes is left untreated, the patient is in danger of losing their vision.
Neuropathy
This is a major complication that affects the entire human body. The nerves—in charge of transmitting signals all over the body—become affected when prediabetes isn’t treated as and when due. This complication affects the transmission of signals to various body parts, and in severe cases, it could lead to amputation in some people.
How to Reverse Prediabetes
With prediabetes’ risk factors and complications, it’s crucial to know how to treat the condition successfully. This section considers all that patients need to know about reversing prediabetes.
Eat a Clean Diet
Eating a clean diet doesn’t necessarily imply one has been ingesting some kind of unclean food. This means one should eat a diet that can help stabilize blood sugar levels.
One common cause of prediabetes is a diet rich in processed foods. These diets are termed unhealthy because they comprise contents that can cause health issues. Namely, they contain fats, calories, and sugar that have no significant nutritional value to consumers’ health.
To reverse prediabetes, you need to reduce your ingestion of such foods. It’s also essential to mention that red meat is another food that can increase your risk of prediabetes. Hence it’s advised to reduce its intake.
Instead, you can take foods with low carbs like vegetables, whole grain, lean meat, avocado, fish, etc.
Lose Excess Weight
Aside from the fact that many people get involved regularly to keep fit, one advantage of excess weight loss is that it helps burn excess fat. And this can be of positive relevance to your health. Shedding off 7–10% of your body fat can help stabilize your blood sugar level, helping to prevent prediabetes.
Managing your weight is vital for the normal functioning of the body parts. The problem of insulin resistance increases when you have a large waist size. Again, this figure sits at over 35 and 40 inches for women and men, respectively.
This might not seem easy for heavy consumers, but you could take meals in small portions of about 5 rounds in a day rather than consuming three large portions of food.
Exercise Consistently
It’d be surprising to many how a lack of exercise could be a possible risk factor for prediabetes. While regular exercise is a struggle for many, a lack of continual physical activities can cause prediabetes.
As some may think, exercise isn’t only good for providing energy and improving mental health; it also boosts insulin sensitivity, thus helping to normalize sugar levels. This allows the cell to use insulin and function effectively.
Due to their schedule, exercise can be difficult for many, but you can help yourself by getting involved in physical activities for 15–30 minutes daily. You can start with this before going for workouts.
Aside from prediabetes, generally, smoking should be discouraged as it causes loads of health impairment. For one, it increases the risk of lung cancer and other heart diseases. More importantly, smoking contributes to insulin resistance, prediabetes, and even type 2 diabetes.
We all know quitting habits like smoking can be challenging. But you can help yourself by taking over-the-counter (OTC) products like nicotine gum instead. This can help to quit smoking and improve your health generally.
You can also consult with your physician to place you on medication that can help to reduce cravings for nicotine.
Deal With Sleep Apnea
Apnea simply means difficulty in breathing or cessation of respiration. This is a serious health issue as sleep apnea has been linked to insulin resistance.
As defined above, sleep apnea causes frequent cessation of breathing throughout the night. This is due to the relaxation of the muscles of the throat. Signs of this health issue include gasping for air during sleep, daytime sleepiness, choking during sleep, and loud snoring.
Sleep apnea poses many risks like prediabetes. Thankfully, treatment options for sleep apnea abound, including using oral appliances to contract the throat muscles when sleeping. Another treatment option is using a continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machine; this helps to keep the air passage of the throat open for easy airflow.
Drink Plenty of Water
Water offers numerous positive contributions to human health, including its excellence in reversing prediabetes. It can also help to prevent issues of type 2 diabetes.
Water is something that can hardly be abused when it comes to health. It helps to control and regulate the body entirely. It also helps to control blood sugar levels.
Aside from the fact that water helps to reduce sugar levels, it’s also an ideal substitute for beverages like sodas and fruit juices. Beverages aren’t healthy food choices as they can contribute to the cause of prediabetes.
Consult With A Registered Dietitian
Since eating the right food that can help you manage health issues like prediabetes can be quite tricky, it’d be better to meet a dietician nutritionist. This is important as they’re best qualified to provide dietary suggestions to help you manage your blood sugar level. Even if your doctor gives dietary suggestions, meeting and working with a registered dietician is still preferred.
A registered dietician will help you with profound guidance on the right diet to take and the ones you should avoid to help reverse prediabetes and prevent diabetes. Notably, they can help provide a good meal plan to help you maintain a normal blood sugar level.
Eat Fewer Carbs
Regarding ways to help you prevent prediabetes, consuming fewer carbs is at the top of the list. Choosing your carbohydrate meals carefully is important even if you’re committed to healthy nutrition. It’s recommended to consume foods with unprocessed carbs like beans, whole grains, and vegetables.
Foods like the aforementioned are rich in fiber. They take time to break, keeping one full for a long time. This means they get absorbed by the body slowly, abating an unusual increase in blood sugar levels.
On the other hand, foods like candy, yogurts, juices, and certain fruits can cause an unusual spike in sugar levels. This can be detrimental to health as it’s a risk factor for insulin resistance and prediabetes.
When to Meet a Doctor
While you can employ natural methods to treat and reverse prediabetes, knowing when to meet a doctor is equally important.
Meeting a doctor becomes necessary if you’re showing any signs of prediabetes. It becomes even more necessary to meet a doctor for diagnosis if you present any of the risk factors of prediabetes alongside. Since risk factors and symptoms go hand in hand, having both phenomena indicates that you may have diabetes.
The right specialist to consult is an endocrinologist. An endocrinologist is a diabetes specialist doctor that treats everything diabetes. While general practitioners have a foundational understanding of diabetes and prediabetes, an endocrinologist will be of greater help.
Generally, the specialist will perform a blood sugar check and determine what type of management tips you need. In most cases, the natural reversal method will work. However, in rare cases, doctors will suggest other more advanced methods, which the next sections consider.
Medication for Prediabetes
Insulin therapy is a treatment usually recommended for diabetes in its latter stages. However, there are several cases where treatment based on the hormone insulin may be necessary following a successful prediabetes blood sugar test. When patients have high blood sugar and too much fat in their bodies that they need to lose weight, specialists may find it necessary for an occasional dose of basal insulin.
Basal insulin is background insulin that serves for long hours to several days. Apart from insulin therapy, your specialist may also suggest surgery. However, these two options are simply for special cases; other options outlined in the next section often suffice regarding prediabetes reversal.
How Health Apps Help Against PreDiabetes
Since prediabetes is a precursor to the more complicated diabetes, it’s only necessary to adopt measures that don’t lead to high blood sugar levels. While this guide has outlined several ways one can achieve such, this section highlights the role of apps in achieving healthy blood sugar control to eliminate the complications it can cause.
There are different types of healthy apps — those designed for a diet to encourage healthy eating and those that encourage people to exercise by counting steps. Also, some others encourage great tips that prevent high blood pressure.
Most regularly updated health apps require patients to subscribe often to access their services. This subscription is often monthly. However, some offer users the choice of making advance payments, quarterly and annually.
Here, we consider the different categories of health apps and how they aid better blood sugar control and prediabetes recovery.
Diet Apps
Diet apps are designed to provide prediabetes and diabetes patients with updated information on the best meal choices. Diet or food apps are usually present as applications. However, these applications are designed by experts in the study of diabetes, including doctors, health practitioners, dietitians, and endocrinologists.
The app’s purpose is to serve as a food administrator that provides patients with the right food to eat. The aim is to ensure that people with prediabetes don’t rely on many sugar-filled carbs and eat only healthy fats to reduce high blood pressure.
Diabetes meal apps are among the most trusted food resources patients can use without much help from a specialist. Most of these apps are updated regularly, so additional meals designed to reduce blood sugar are added frequently to increase patient options and modify their choices.
Apart from the regular update, diabetes meal apps offer users a reliable routine that patients can trust. These special apps allow users to set their daily, weekly, and monthly diet routines to help them stay healthy and reduce their dependence on snacks and high blood sugar foods.
Many specialists recommend that patients use diet apps to control their blood sugar because of the success many people have achieved using them.
Exercise Apps
Exercise apps are another trustworthy category of self-help apps that patients can trust. Different types of exercise self-help apps are available to patients, which they can access from different expert providers. Exercise apps offer patients the option of performing moderate to intense exercises.
Most people with prediabetes or on the border of developing diabetes usually struggle with exercising. While a tight schedule is chief among the reasons behind this, the major obstacle is the psychological aspect that makes them feel cardiovascular activity and resistance training are too tasking. Exercise apps help eliminate that barrier through their different work rate available to patients.
Patients can use moderate exercise apps to gradually and regularly warm their bodies up to training. This regime usually includes fast walks, small, simple jogs and step counting. More intense options are usually available in these apps and are to be used by patients who have passed the moderate exercise stage. These exercises include advanced resistance training, running, and even sprinting.
Exercise apps are crucial, especially when the patients in question struggle with insulin resistance and high blood glucose levels. However, it’s important that patients also take dieting seriously.
Without appropriate dieting, it’ll be difficult for them to achieve much blood sugar control irrespective of their exercise effort. As such, they must consider diabetes-friendly apps a requirement to achieve an overall effective result.
Support Group Apps
Support group apps are health social apps for people with diabetes that allow them to commit to a community of people with the same condition. Support group apps have proven incredibly effective as they’ve helped patients with prediabetes handle the depression that comes with high blood sugar. Generally, since reversing prediabetes requires patients to do things they’re not exactly used to, they may battle certain psychological stress.
Many people who experience this psychological stress don’t know how to handle the changes with their meals, constant exercising, and appointments with medical experts. Studies show that people caught up in this web may become distressed and depressed, increasing their chances of slipping into diabetes.
With support groups, patients will connect to people in similar spaces and find companionship in their recovery journey. Support groups and social apps have helped people with prediabetes recover quickly and live more healthily. The good thing is that users are likely to find better tips to aid their recovery based on the experience of others who’ve successfully recovered or gone past the stage they’re currently dealing with.
There are different types of social and community diabetes groups; the apps patients go for will determine which community they’re matched with.
Additional Notes
It’s important to note that there are hundreds of apps available online. However, some stand out following studies by experts. Patients should only go for these apps for the best results instead of picking anyone they find on the net.
Also, while patients may want to opt for an app that offers the jack-of-all-trade services, it’s advised to lean towards those with more specific services. The latter are more likely to offer deep services that aid the recovery from diabetes as opposed to those that only offer superficial services to users.
The Role of Diabetes Prevention Programs (DPPs)
Diabetes prevention programs (DPPs) are one of the most objective and effective ways to reverse prediabetes quickly and healthily. From the term, diabetes prevention program, it’s apparent that this option helps patients successfully reduce their high blood sugar levels before reaching the stage of diabetes.
DPPs are organized institutionalized campaigns sponsored mostly by public health institutions to help patients achieve their goal of reversing prediabetes. There are also private institutions involved in this program. However, most of them work hand in hand with public institutions.
These programs admit patients with high blood sugar risk and subject them to a mix of in-office and at-home treatments to help them successfully lower blood sugar levels and reverse prediabetes.
These programs aren’t only designed for prediabetes and great for helping patients handle diabetes and start their recovery journey. The good thing about these programs is that they don’t expose patients to only common practices that offer standard treatments. Rather, they employ other safe new methods to see how they enhance the process of boosting insulin sensitivity and achieving normal blood sugar levels.
The programs also focus on tackling the risk factors that cause prediabetes, like excess weight, high alcohol consumption, and inactiveness. Patients have generally enjoyed a high success rate in their goal to lower blood sugar levels and live healthily with a diabetes prevention program.
Some of the best diabetes prevention programs patients can join include:
CDC National Diabetes Prevention Program: This program is designed for patients by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and is among the most popular options.
YMCA’s Diabetes Prevention Program: The Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) is among the most health-inclined Christian associations. The group provides patients with a diabetes prevention program to gain better health and live a life free from diabetes.
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases Diabetes Prevention Program (NIDDK DPP): This public health institution empowers patients with a robust diabetes prevention campaign.
The three institutions above aren’t the only option available to patients; several private institutions are still available. However, almost all of them feature the same prevention campaigns.
While some modifications and unique practices may exist, the underlying features remain the same. The major approaches boil down to dieting and exercising. Every other application, like medications, only complements these two main features.
Patients can join diabetes prevention programs without much requirement. It’s generally voluntary, and patients don’t necessarily need to spend much. The only main requirement needed to join one is consistently high blood sugar that borders prediabetes and diabetes.
Conclusion
Reversing prediabetes is generally not as difficult as treating diabetes. However, people with prediabetes usually slip into diabetes and may even battle the complications that the latter cause.
Due to the difficulty of managing diabetes, specialists recommend that patients treat prediabetes early on so that they never get to the stage of diabetes. This guide has considered the different ways patients can reverse diabetes, spanning both natural and medical methods.
However, a healthy diet stands out among the different methods highlighted in this piece. Prediabetes patients can generally reverse their condition with the single trick of dieting; all other methods usually complement this effort. For one, eating healthy leaves the body with significantly little carbohydrates and unhealthy fat that contribute to and worsen insulin resistance.
Diet apps are one of the major resources patients can use to reverse their condition. This article comprehensively and explicitly highlighted how patients could enjoy the benefits of using expert-vetted diet apps like our Klinio app.
Klinio offers patients every help they need to start eating healthy and continue eating healthily even after successfully reversing prediabetes. Our app is updated regularly to offer patients the tastiest meals they can get without worsening their blood sugar. Patients can also build a routine of the meals they eat, set weekly or daily meal plans, and even build a yearly meal plan without much requirement.
