Pre-Diabetes: What is Pre-Diabetes

Pre-diabetes is characterised by high but not yet diabetic blood sugar levels, and is often linked to obesity or being overweight. It is almost always followed by Type 2 diabetes. Although most people are unaware of their pre-diabetic sugar levels, this is the crucial stage when it is still possible to turn your lifestyle around and avoid diabetes developing. You can do this by incorporating daily physical activity and healthy eating into your lifestyle, which should eventually prompt your blood sugar level to return to normal.

Who is at Risk of Pre-Diabetes

You are more likely to be pre-diabetic if you are over 45, have high cholesterol levels or have a family history of diabetes. Experts say that high levels of obesity in the UK mean that the future burden of diabetes on healthcare will be enormous. Since both pre-diabetes and Type 2 diabetes develop gradually, be aware of the symptoms of diabetes and if you experience several of them, visit your doctor.

Type 2 Diabetes: What is Type 2 Diabetes

Type two diabetes, by far the most common, develops gradually as the body becomes slowly less able to effectively handle its blood glucose levels – either because the pancreas does not produce enough insulin to cope with the amount of sugar in the body, or because the insulin does not metabolise glucose effectively (called insulin resistance).

Symptoms of Type 2 Diabetes

Signs and symptoms are usually less severe than in Type 1 diabetes and as such it often goes undiscovered for a number of years, but if left untreated it can worsen and cause damage to the internal organs.

Causes of Type 2 Diabetes

It’s usually caused by being overweight, having bad eating habits (consuming large amounts of starches and sugar) and not exercising enough, and often comes to a head around middle age – or as young as age 25 for South Asian and African-Caribbean people. In recent years, however, as children become more overweight and inactive, there has been a rise in children being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, some as young as just seven years old.

Gestational Diabetes: Pregnancy and Diabetes

During pregnancy, extra hormones are produced by the placenta that are resistant to insulin. This coupled with the foetus’s growth needs means that a pregnant woman needs at least twice as much insulin to function healthily.

What is Gestational Diabetes

If the body is not able to produce enough insulin to meet those needs, gestational diabetes may develop, usually during the second or third trimester. In some women though, diabetes discovered during pregnancy (usually during the first trimester) means that they were already affected by diabetes before they became pregnant.

Causes of Gestational Diabetes

Risk factors for gestational diabetes include being overweight or obese, having a family history of Type 2 diabetes, and having had a previous pregnancy that resulted in either a baby with extremely above average weight, or in a stillbirth or cot death.

How Do You Treat Gestational Diabetes

The condition can be controlled by eating carefully, avoiding carbs, or by having insulin injections. It usually disappears after giving birth, but women who have had gestational diabetes are more at risk of developing it again with other pregnancies, and are 30 per cent more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes in later life.

Babies of Women with Gestational Diabetes

Babies born to women with undiagnosed gestational diabetes have an increased risk of malformations and complications during and after birth. But there is hope: studies have shown that even extremely overweight pregnant women can significantly cut their risk of developing gestational diabetes by taking part in moderate physical activity

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