Scientists haven’t been able to agree on how to define prediabetes, which is a red flag for people on the way to developing full blown Type 2 diabetes. But now, new research suggests glucose tests could be enough to diagnose the condition that’s a warning sign for people to change their lifestyle.
Researchers out of Johns Hopkins’ Bloomberg School of Public Health say that a hemoglobin A1C and glucose level test are enough to tease out who may be prediabetic. The World Health Organization advises doctors to rely solely on a glucose test.
“When someone is told they have prediabetes, we hope it will cause them to make changes to their habits in order to prevent the development of diabetes and its complications,” Dr. Elizabeth Selvin, the study’s senior author, said.
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In Selvin’s work, she looked at the results of fasting glucose and hemoglobin tests of nearly 11,000 adults. She then tracked their health trajectories over the next 22 years to see who ended up with diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease or ended up dying. Another 7,200 adults and their glucose tests were studied along with how well they fared in the subsequent years.
Turns out, the hemoglobin A1C test helped in determining who was prediabetic.
What is prediabetes?
“Prediabetes is a condition where your blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not high enough to warrant diagnosis for diabetes,” Dr. Jan Hux told Global News. Hux is the chief science officer at the Canadian Diabetes Association (CDA).
From previous research, scientists know that about 50 per cent of people with prediabetes end up developing Type 2 diabetes.
“They should be worried if they don’t do anything about it. Prediabetes is an opportunity to be identified, not a disease,” Hux said.
If those diagnosed with prediabetes make changes to their lifestyle, they can stave off the chronic disease. Hux said that in studies, people who followed an exercise and diet plan and lost seven per cent of their baseline body weight reduced their risk of diabetes by 60 per cent.
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What are the signs and symptoms of prediabetes?
Aside from tests, it’s often hard to tell if you’re prediabetic.
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There are “classic red flags” that suggest you’ve moved from prediabetes to Type 2 diabetes, according to the Mayo Clinic and the CDA. They include:
- Increased thirst
- Frequent urination
- Extreme fatigue or lack of energy
- Blurred vision
- Cuts and bruises that are slow to heal
- Tingling or numbness in the hands and feet
Warning signs for being prediabetic come with a string of factors:
- You’re overweight with a body mass index above 25
- You’re inactive
- You’re 45 or older
- You have a family history of Type 2 diabetes
- You’re of South Asian, South East Asian, Arab, African or First Nations descent. These communities are at a higher risk
- You developed gestational diabetes when you were pregnant or gave birth to a baby who weighed more than nine pounds
- You have high blood pressure
Hux said that each factor increases risk of diabetes, but one or two things won’t put you at high risk necessarily.
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A “high proportion” of women who get gestational diabetes while pregnant go on to develop Type 2 diabetes years later.
“It’s worth screening and following your health,” she said.
Environmental factors could put Canadians at a greater risk, too: you could be struggling to afford healthier fare or you’re working two jobs making it difficult to exercise or build a routine sleep schedule.
Hux said Canadians can take a test to determine their diabetes risk here.
Selvin’s full findings were published this week in the Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology.
carmen.chai@globalnews.ca
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