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Want to attend a
Diabetes Class at the
hospital—for free?
Please call us today at
(606) 598-1095
for more
information.
November
MEMORIAL’S GUIDE TO HEALING AND WELLNESS •
FALL 2014
PREDIABETES
On the road to prevention
S
OMETIMES, IF WE’RE LUCKY, we hear about an ac-
cident or some construction that is blocking our usual drive
to a familiar place. With enough warning, we can often
change our route and avoid the problem. Learning that you have
prediabetes is a little like that.
The condition means your blood sugar levels are higher than
normal, though not high enough to be considered type 2 diabetes.
However, you are at much greater risk for developing full-blown
diabetes—a potentially life-threatening disease.
Having prediabetes doesn’t mean you’ll definitely get diabetes.
In fact, you can view this as an opportunity—a second chance to
keep that from ever happening. How? By making some changes
in your eating and exercise habits—changes that are very doable.
With any luck, you may be able to reverse the course you’re on.
What’s up? Blood sugar
Before people are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, they almost always
have prediabetes, the American Diabetes Association reports. Risk
factors include being older than 45 and overweight and not exercis-
ing much. As people begin to inch closer to diabetes, their bodies
might start to have trouble using insulin—a hormone that helps the
body turn glucose (a sugar we get from foods) into energy to power
cells. As diabetes develops, glucose starts to build up in the blood-
stream. Over time, high glucose levels can begin to damage the body.
Turn it around
Again, diabetes doesn’t have to be in your future. Research shows
that healthy eating and exercise habits can significantly help you
prevent or at least delay the progression to type 2 diabetes. If you’re
overweight, losing just 5 to 10 percent of your weight can make a
difference. That’s as little as 10 pounds for a 200-pound person.
Losing weight comes down to using up more calories than
you take in. But don’t do the diet thing. Instead, remind your-
self that you will be making healthy eating and exercise habits a
regular part of your life from now on. You can start to make those
changes in small but meaningful ways, like these:
Eat right.
Try eating a little less of foods that are high in fat.
Bite-for-bite, they pack more calories than low-fat foods—and
any calories your body doesn’t burn are stored as fat.
Move it to lose it.
If you normally watch TV after dinner, why
not enjoy a short walk with a friend or loved one instead?
Exercising regularly helps you burn calories, so it goes hand-in-
hand with healthful eating. But activity also helps your body use
insulin. Often, a good goal to work up to is at least 150 minutes
of moderately intense exercise, such as brisk walking, each week.
Start slowly, and see where your footsteps lead.
Be sure to talk with your doctor about what steps you should take
to help lower your blood sugar and stay off the road to diabetes.
Find tips for eating healthy on page 3—nutrition is a
key part of the CREATION Health program.
Additional sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; National Institutes of Health
You can learn more healthy living
tips that can help prevent diabetes at
