Key points
- More than 2 in 5 American adults have prediabetes.
- It raises the risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
- Lifestyle changes can cut your risk of type 2 diabetes in half.
What prediabetes is
With prediabetes, blood sugar is higher than normal but not yet high enough for a type 2 diabetes diagnosis.
What causes it. Insulin is a hormone that works like a key, letting blood sugar into cells to be used for energy. In prediabetes the cells don't respond normally to insulin. The pancreas makes more insulin to compensate. Eventually it can't keep up, blood sugar rises, and the stage is set for type 2 diabetes.
Signs and risk factors
You can have prediabetes for years with no clear symptoms. It often goes unnoticed until a serious problem such as type 2 diabetes appears. Ask your doctor about a blood sugar test if you have any of these risk factors:
- having overweight
- being 45 or older
- a parent, brother or sister with type 2 diabetes
- being physically active less than 3 times a week
- ever having gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy)
- giving birth to a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds
- polycystic ovary syndrome
Race and ethnicity also matter: African American, Hispanic/Latino American, American Indian, Alaska Native, Pacific Islander and some Asian American people are at higher risk.
Could you have it? Take CDC's prediabetes risk test, then ask your doctor about a simple blood sugar test.
How to prevent type 2 diabetes
Two changes lower the risk:
| Change | What it means |
|---|---|
| Lose a small amount of weight (if you have overweight) | 5% to 7% of body weight — 10 to 14 pounds for a 200-pound person |
| Get regular physical activity | at least 150 minutes a week of brisk walking or similar — 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week |
The CDC-led National Diabetes Prevention Program helps people make those changes and keep them. Its lifestyle change program can lower the risk of type 2 diabetes by 58% — 71% for people over 60.
Imagine: You and the National Diabetes Prevention Program. CDC. Transcript.
Ask your doctor whether a CDC-recognized program is offered near you, or find a program. The best time to prevent type 2 diabetes is now.
Sources
Based on "Prediabetes – Your Chance to Prevent Type 2 Diabetes," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with CDC's film "Imagine: You and the National Diabetes Prevention Program"; works of the United States government in the public domain.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.cdc.gov
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