Borderline Diabetes

23 Jul

Posted by admin as diabetes

There is no such thing as borderline diabetes! The method used to diagnose diabetes is absolute, with well-defined criteria on blood testing. By definition, an individual either has diabetes or does not. Most people who have been told they have “borderline” diabetes actually have diabetes. Their doctor may have wanted to avoid scaring or worrying them by actually coming out and saying that diabetes was present.

The pancreas usually secretes the hormone insulin to keep glucose (basically sugar) at a safe level in your bloodstream. People with diabetes have a pancreas that doesn’t recognize glucose or doesn’t make insulin to keep glucose at bay. Thus, people with diabetes have high glucose levels, 126 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) or more after an overnight fast. People with Type 1 diabetes make no insulin at all. Those with Type 2 diabetes do make insulin, but it’s either not enough or the body doesn’t recognize it. Type 2 diabetes is the most common form of the two.

For those in whom lifestyle changes are not enough to normalize blood glucose, at least two medications have been shown to be effective in preventing progression to type 2 diabetes in people with IGT or prediabetes. These are metformin, proven effective in the DPP trial, which also studied lifestyle intervention, and acarbose, shown effective in another trial, the STOP-NIDDM study.

Who’s at risk for Pre-Diabetes?

The risk factors for Pre-Diabetes and type 2 diabetes are the same. People should be screened if they are overweight and age 45 or older. They should be screened regularly if they are under age 45 and have one additional risk factor; are Hispanic, African American, American Indian, or Pacific Islander; have a family history of diabetes; have central (waistline) obesity; have a sedentary lifestyle; have had gestational (pregnancy-related) diabetes; have high blood pressure; have blood fat problems (such as high triglycerides, high LDL, or low HDL).

Can Medication Help?

New research shows that medications may aid in diabetes prevention and not just control of the disease once you have it. There are several different studies that show drugs along with a healthy lifestyle, can reduce the risk of developing diabetes in a high risk person.