If you have recently heard that you have pre-diabetes, or if you have a strong family history of diabetes or other risk factors, you may be wondering if it is possible to avoid developing Type 2 diabetes, or if it is possible that you can delay the onset of the disease. If you have pre-diabetes, you are very likely to develop Type 2 diabetes within a ten year window. Many people today currently have pre-diabetes or even diabetes itself and are not aware of that fact. The first thing you should do is assess your risk factors. If you have a family history of diabetes or if you are part of one of the following ethnic groups you are far more likely to develop diabetes: African American, Alaska Native, Latino, Native American, Asian, or Pacific Islander. People over 40 are also more likely to develop diabetes, however, there has been a steady increase in young people developing Type 2 diabetes recently. This is due to the fact that many young people are much more sedentary now than in the past. Being less physically active puts you at a higher risk for developing Type 2 diabetes. Being overweight is also a significant risk factor. If you find yourself with some of the risk factors noted above it is important to discuss the possibility of diabetes with your doctor, and have a fasting blood glucose test run to see if you have the disease. Diabetes affects almost every system in the body. The longer a person lives with diabetes, the more likely he or she is to suffer from diabetic complications. Diabetes can cause blindness, it contributes greatly to heart disease, puts you at risk for stroke, can cause circulatory problems or slow healing infections which can lead to amputation of limbs. These are just a few of the complications you can suffer, so it is important to avoid allowing pre-diabetes to degenerate into Type 2 diabetes as long as possible. The most effective way to treat pre-diabetes is to affect lifestyle changes. This means you need to begin an exercise regime and change your eating habits. Most people groan when they hear this advice. Its not easy to do, and its not fun at the onset. But these two pieces of advice help with a multitude of diseases. Losing weight and having a regular exercise regime also reduce your risk for cancer and heart disease, among many other things. So sometimes a diagnosis of pre-diabetes can be looked at as a good thing. It provides the additional incentive to make the changes that will ultimately help you live a healthier life overall. So how do you go about eating better? Change your eating habits. Eat less meat and more fruits and vegetables. Cut down on junk foods and processed foods. Trade regular soda for diet soda or water or iced tea. Re-learn portion sizes, often what your given in a restaurant or in prepackaged containers is more than one serving size. Cut down on carb-heavy foods such as potatoes. Switch to whole grain products over refined white flour. The other lifestyle change you should make is to begin an exercise regime. Your ultimate goal is to workout 6 days a week for one hour, however that is what you are working up to. Initially you can aim lower. Try for 30 minutes and if that is too long you can break it up into three 10-minute segments. In addition to helping lose weight, exercise also helps to increase the good cholesterol in the body and helps the body to use blood sugar more effectively. Whatever you plan to do, make sure to discuss it with your doctor before you begin any exercise plan. Changing your eating habits and exercising regularly will help you to lose weight and keep it off. That in turn will help you to either avoid or at least delay the onset of Type 2 diabetes.
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