Pre Diabetes

What is pre-diabetes?
Pre diabetes is a condition when a person has blood glucose levels that are higher than normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. 

There are two types of pre-diabetes conditions:

• Impaired glucose tolerance (IGT)  is where blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be classified as diabetes.
• Impaired fasting glucose (IFG) is where blood glucose levels are high when someone has fasted but not high enough to be classified as diabetes.
• It is possible to have both Impaired Fasting Glucose (IFG) and Impaired Glucose Tolerance (IGT)

Do people experience symptoms with pre-diabetes?
Generally most people do not experience symptoms with pre-diabetes or they are so slight that they do not notice them.   Pre Diabetes is the precursor to Type 2 diabetes, which is often called a ticking time bomb or a silent killer, as many people do not know they have the condition.  

It’s estimated that around two million Australians have pre-diabetes, with one in three people with pre-diabetes going on to develop type 2 diabetes.

If we have pre-diabetes, what can we do to prevent ourselves from developing type 2 diabetes?
We can help to manage our pre-diabetes and reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and heart disease by making healthy lifestyle changes.

These include:

• weight loss;
• regular exercise;
• healthy eating;
• keeping your cholesterol in check and;
• smoking cessation if that's appropriate for you.

What exercise is recommended for someone with pre-diabetes?

Regular exercise can help to manage your weight and also help to reduce your blood glucose levels; and help to manage other risk factors such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels.

The Australian guidelines suggest that all Australians undertake 30 minutes of planned moderate intensity aerobic exercise on at least 5 days of the week.  So this could include walking or swimming, or could involve sports such as tennis and squash.  The 30 minutes on 5 days a week is the bare minimum recommended, as evidence has found that better health outcomes are achieved by increasing your exercise up to 60 minutes a day.

In addition to the aerobic exercise described above, undertaking some form of resistance training where you are using your muscles and working them to fatigue twice a week is also recommended, as this will help to improve your insulin resistance, and thereby reduce your blood glucose levels even more.

If you are new to exercise, chatting to your doctor or local Exercise Physiologist is a great place to start to ensure you are safe to exercise and they can guide you on the right exercises for you.

Lisa Parkinson
Accredited Exercise Physiologist and Credentialled Diabetes Educator

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