Life & Style | Health
Warning bells are ringing
Treatment for pre-diabetes involves healthy lifestyle changes rather than medication
- By Judith Woods,The Telegraph Group Limited
- Published: 00:00 November 7, 2009
- Image Credit: Supplied
- Blood glucose meter, insulin pen, test strip, lancing device
It is a time bomb ticking away inside millions of people: a condition that can lead to serious illness, debilitation and even death. Yet pre-diabetes usually remains undetected — until it's too late. Should we be worried about this symptomless epidemic? Is it just an inevitable precursor of full-blown diabetes or a distinct condition in its own right? And what treatment is available to prevent pre-diabetes from developing into something much worse?
Pre-diabetes is a blood-sugar disorder that can cause long-term damage to the heart and circulatory system. It also makes sufferers up to 15 times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes, which is irreversible and can lead to complications such as heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, amputation and blindness.
Fortunately if diagnosed early, pre-diabetes can be reversed, cutting the risk of greater health problems by up to 60 per cent. Moreover, the treatment involves healthy lifestyle changes rather than medication. "People with abnormally high sugar levels have a much greater propensity to go on to develop diabetes but that's not a given," says Naveed Sattar, professor of metabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow and an honorary consultant at the city's Royal Infirmary. "Factors such as lifestyle, genetics and ethnicity play a part but obesity is a big driver; for someone who is susceptible to getting the disease, obesity can unleash that potential." Ninety per cent of people diagnosed with pre-diabetes are overweight or obese. Excess fat, particularly round the midriff, hinders the regulation of blood sugar, so the level of glucose in circulation rises, causing damage to the small blood vessels in the body.
People with pre-diabetes have blood glucose levels higher than normal but not high enough to register as suffering from Type 2 diabetes. Until now, doctors have either tended to give general advice about losing weight or have monitored glucose levels until they reach critical point. As a result, many patients who could have been helped at a crucial early stage have fallen through the net.
"I regret I wasn't warned sooner that I was pre-diabetic," says Mike Campbell, a management consultant who works in the healthcare sector. "I was told by my general practitioner that I was pre-diabetic four years ago but I believe I had pre-diabetes for ten years, because my blood sugar was rising along with my weight and I also had high blood pressure and cholesterol. I should have lost weight when I was diagnosed with pre-diabetes and taken better care of my diet but I didn't since I failed to grasp what pre-diabetes meant or that it could be reversed."
A year ago, Campbell, 54, developed symptoms of dizziness and numbness in his extremities and his eyesight rapidly started to fail. At first, he attributed these developments to the onset of age but when sores on his legs and feet wouldn't heal properly, he went to his family doctor and was diagnosed with diabetes. "It seemed inevitable that I would get diabetes and it was shocking to discover subsequently that I could have prevented it. There's no point being bitter because I don't think my doctor knew much about pre-diabetes at the time."
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