Treat pre-diabetes before it is too late

Today, I came across a newspaper report with the same title as the title of this post in the Sun newspaper. It is of interest to me as I have taken a GTT (glucose tolerance test) a long time ago and was diagnosed as having impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). According to the newspaper article, IGT is the same as pre-diabetes and which, according to Dr. S.P. Chan, a senior endocrinologist consultant of the University of Malaya Medical Center, can rapidly convert to type I diabetes at a rate of 2% to 10% a year. People with pre-diabetes are more prone to heart diseases and stroke. That should be something that I should seriously take note of because at that rate, I should already have or very close to having type I diabetes, and diabetes cannot be cured. I had recently taken not one but two tests for diabetes, once via urine sample analysis and once via testing of blood sugar, and according to the test, I do not have diabetes.

The symptoms of pre-diabetes are the same as Type I diabetes, that is, increased thirst, increased urination, increased appetite, fatigue, blurred vision, frequent and slow healing infection, erectile dysfunction, etc. I don't have any of these, so I doubt the accuracy of that test I took a long time ago (20 years ago, I think). But my late father had diabetes and suffered a stroke, so I suppose, I need to take care.

According to Dr. Chan, it is a misconception that sugar intake causes diabetes. It is actually the calories in the sweetened food that increases the risks of the disease. Risk factors that can lead to pre-diabetes include increasing age, hypertension, high cholesterol AND lack of exercise. I am now 57, and sit in front of the computer practically the whole day long!

According to that article, which I presume to be quoting Dr. Chan, there is no cure for diabetes, but it can be prevented by receiving early treatment at the pre-diabetic stage. Unfortunately, the article didn't what kind of early treatment are involved. That, I would guess, will include (sigh!) getting more exercise.