Prevention of Pre-Diabetes

It’s always nice to see people in the medical community backing your beliefs. I found this quote recently by Dr. Michael Valentine, the President of American College of Cardiology (2018-2019) that said “While we are constantly finding innovative ways to treat existing heart disease, we must continue to focus our efforts on preventing heart disease. It will require efforts from more than just the medical community, but from communities and government as well.” 

In this blog, we’ll be covering pre-diabetes, obesity and how to prevent both of these things from occurring in the first place. Many people have heard about diabetes, but what most people don’t know is how the sequence happens from pre-diabetes to full-on diabetes and the process that the body goes through during this time. 

High blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity all go hand-in-hand. 

When you have a meal that is rich in carbs, where do those carbs go? They are absorbed into the bloodstream and go knocking on the door of our working cells in our liver, muscles, and other arteries to tell them that blood sugar is available. The cells listen and use this to go about their routine and create the energy that we use daily. However, as blood sugar continues you to come around and tell us that blood sugar is available, not all doors open. Now, the pancreas already secretes insulin into our bodies, and when that blood sugar comes knocking, they say - “Knock louder, I can’t hear you.” The blood sugar or insulin must be louder and work harder to get through those doors, hence the creation of insulin becomes higher. Insulin continues to come back with more and more insulin in order to open those doors, but after it accumulates such high levels over and over, it eventually says, “What do you expect of me? I can’t keep up with these levels anymore” Hence insulin resistance starts its journey. 

The main reason this occurs is when our bodies are not getting the proper treatment tactics - a healthy diet, exercise, and of course, too many carbohydrates. As we know, everything is okay in moderation, but when your body starts to become unresponsive, it’s because of unwanted belly fat and lack of care for our bodies. Our bodies try to help us maintain healthy weights, even from the inside, hence the resistance to insulin production trying to help keep us healthy and fit. For people that have diabetes and other health-related issues, this fight can be challenging. Your blood test will be where you see the difference in your body.

Your number should look something like this: 
Pre-Diabetes: between 100-126
Diabetes: 126 or higher 

1 out of 3 people in the United States test positive for pre-diabetes, and had no idea that they were even in a categorical place for pre-diabetes or diabetes in general. This is where we wrap everything back to our previous lessons: stay on top of your health and make your primary care physician your best friend. Get your checkups, monitor your own health at home, and do the things that you know are good for your bodies in the long run. Your physicians will tell you how to take care of your bodies before diabetes can kick in, or how to prevent your body from getting to a diabetic level.

To your health,
Dr. Anthony