I just read an article about how most doctors miss the opportunity to treat pre-diabetics. With the abundance of information available to people today about common health issues, and how doctors are forced into the insurance model of healthcare delivery, I don’t think all the blame should be put on the doorstep of the average practitioner. Besides, I’m not talking to doctors here, but to people looking for ways to improve their own health.
If you’re looking here for information, you have probably learned that in health, like in most things in life, nobody is coming to save you and no doctor can deliver a magic pill that will undo decades of poor lifestyle choices.
Which brings us back to pre-diabetes. According to some estimates, more than a third of U.S. adults are pre-diabetic, with blood sugar that is elevated, but not enough to be classifed as diabetic. Even with only pre-diabetes, a person is at higher risk for circulatory problems, kidney disease, nerve and retinal damage.
According to the Health Daily News article I mentioned above, shocking though it may seem, pre-diabetes is one of the biggest risk factors for developing diabetes (my sarcasm here is very much intended). Mind you, not everybody with pre-diabetes ends up with full blown diabetes. The rate is about 15-30%. That contributes to one of the biggest problems with pre-diabetes: many pre-diabetics don’t know they have it. If you look at the signs and symptoms of pre-diabetes, you’ll quickly notice that there aren’t any reliable indicators. Rising blood sugar and insulin resistance doesn’t have a cardinal sign or symptom like some other diseases do.
Even with a blood test in front of them, many people (and many doctors) may wait and wait until the results finally come back with a number as high as 180 (about double what we look for) before beginning treatment.
This is a good time to bring up the HbA1C. This value is especially helpful, as it represents the sugar levels of the red blood cells, which live about 3 months. Therefore, this value shows trends over time, instead of the momentary snapshot that fasting blood sugar gives us. If your fasting blood sugar looks good, but your HbA1C is elevated, you can figure that you are developing insulin resistance. That’s an indicator that diabetic problems are likely to be in your future.
Our blood analysis software divides sorts data into three categories. The value can be healthy, out of healthy but not yet pathological, or pathological. These lab ranges are determined by drawing a bell curve on all the data the lab receives from its clients over a certain period of time. An exception here is the healthy range, which is determined by a group of physiologists.
At OVitaminPro, we figure the best time to treat pre-diabetes is as soon as it begins to drift out of range, not after it becomes a pathology. It is far easier to correct a condition like pre-diabetes as it begins to go off the rails instead of waiting. Doesn’t the old saw go that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?
It is good to have a narrow “panic range” when it comes to fasting blood sugar and HbA1C values. As soon as you see your numbers drift away from the healthy range, it’s time to take stern measures to bring them back to normal. Those measures include a combination of dietary changes, fewer carbohydrates in general, a major reduction in your intake of sugar and alcohol carbs, and probably some blood sugar support supplements. On that front, we recommend Glysen and Protoglysen from Apex or Glycemic Manager from Integrative Therapeutics. For added adrenal support, of course, we recommend BetterGenix AdrenalGenix.
