Prediabetes growing to epidemic levels...

Today is World Diabetes Day, and while most physicians will agree that diabetes is on an epidemic level, it's not just diabetes itself that is worrying area doctors.
What is also taking people by surprise is prediabetes.
Prediabetes is a condition in which blood glucose is elevated but is not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.
According to Dr. Renu Joshi, chief of endocrinology at PinnacleHealth Endocrinology Associates in Mechanicsburg, someone has prediabetes if their blood sugar level comes back between 100 and 125 in the morning after fasting. Anything above 126 would be diabetes.
Currently, 23 million to 26 million Americans have diabetes. When you look at prediabetes, however, that number jumps to 79 million people.
Joshi says that's one out of every two people more than 65 years of age and another 10 to 20 percent of people less than 65.
"Most people don't know about prediabetes, but a lot of people have it," she said. "It's all about obesity."
Because type 1 diabetes often occurs in children through an inherited risk or because of something triggered by infection or diet, most of the prediabetes cases that are being seen are type 2 diabetes cases.
A number of factors can lead to developing type 2 diabetes, including family history and age, but it's an increase in weight and a decrease in activity level that Joshi feels are the reasons most responsible for the growth in prediabetic cases.
"The bottom line is that it's the patient's responsibility," Joshi said. "It's a what they eat issue, a will power issue and an exercise issue. It's all about watching that plate, in my opinion. All of this wasn't here 25 years ago. It's mainly an environment issue, not a genetic one."
Prevention
Prediabetics may not carry some of the problems that diabetics have, but Joshi added that prediabetics still have the same risk for stroke and heart attack as diabetics, which makes prevention all the more important.
But unlike full-blown diabetes, prediabetics can turn their life around fast enough to prevent ever developing diabetes. While those with diabetes can only hope to control the disease, prediabetics can stop the disease in its tracks and reverse their blood sugar to normal levels.
"Learning that you have prediabetes does not necessarily mean you will develop type 2 diabetes. In fact, it's the first step in preventing type 2 diabetes through changes in healthier eating and regular physical activity," said Cory Erhard, physical director of the Carlisle Family YMCA.
Eating right and exercising more are natural prescriptions for preventing plenty of disorders and quite a few types of cancer, but sometimes it takes a wake-up call to get people to do either to prevent diabetes.
And, unfortunately, the wake-up call for prediabetes is a difficult one to find.
Blood glucose tests are a part of annual physicals, but the tests are also the only way for people to identify that they may have a problem with diabetes. There are no signs or symptoms in prediabetics.
Joshi finds that some of the people she see aren't surprised about their diabetes diagnoses because they are already obese and expect that to be the next step. She noted that it doesn't have to be that way, and she intends to make as many people aware of their options as possible.
"I think everyone knows it's a problem, but it just doesn't get the attention it should," Joshi said. "The more awareness we can give people, the better."
Joshi, who is a part of the Pennsylvania Diabetes Action Partnership, was also asking area businesses to light their buildings blue this week to raise awareness of diabetes as a part of the World Diabetes Day campaign.
Several prominent buildings, including the Empire State Building and the state Capitol, will participate in the campaign.
PinnacleHealth will hold World Diabetes Day education and free screenings at the State Capitol Building today from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the East Wing. There, PinnacleHealth and the state Department of Health will give out free diabetes education and information materials, give diabetes risk assessments and provide free screenings for cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar.