Up to 18million people in the UK may have pre-diabetes but what is it ?

I hear the word "pre-diabetes" talked about quite often but do you really know what it is ?


http://www.diabetes.org.uk/About_us/News/Prediabetes-whats-it-all-about/

My understanding is that, as with many things, there is a very broad sliding scale of blood sugar levels found in human beings, going from very low (I don't mean having a hypo) to very high.  There is some point on this scale where the body begins to become damaged, imperceptibly, then a little further along there is the damage which just gets put down to age, until we get to higher levels and the really serious stuff.  Exactly where these points are will vary to some extent from person to person.  
To allow boxes to be ticked, prescriptions issued, long term planning or just the simply castigation of the over weight to make headlines once again, points on this long sliding scale have to be named and people counted.  In other words, at this point, we have decided you are pre-diabetic, and at this one you are diabetic.  Some would say that the sooner you can be defined as diabetic, the better, so that you can get treatment etc, others might say that we are defining too many people as ill, simply to benefit vested interests and the drug companies.
Zoe Harcome has written on this subject of when "normal" becomes abnormal.  You can find it here, http://www.zoeharcombe.com/2014/06/diabetes-cholesterol-bp-normal-is-no-longer-normal/
Sally

Thanks for the link Sally. I agree early diagnosis is key and pre-diabetes should be accepted as perhaps a friendly "warning". I do think medication is handed out too flippantly on occasion though whereas a change in diet and lifestyle may well be enough.

mo1905 wrote:Thanks for the link Sally. I agree early diagnosis is key and pre-diabetes should be accepted as perhaps a friendly "warning". I do think medication is handed out too flippantly on occasion though whereas a change in diet and lifestyle may well be enough.

Absolutely agree.

Many thanks for this link. Although I am not diabetic many I 'talk' to on the net are or have been and it certainly is such a help to know about this condition and to act upon it.

We sometimes go around in ignorance not always wise to do this?

Many thanks

All the best Jan