Higher than normal blood sugar levels put you in danger for diabetes and heart disease.
If you're hoping to avoid heart disease, it is best to probably pay close attention to your blood levels of cholesterol. But it is best to also keep watch over your blood sugar, as elevated blood sugar levels are an early warning sign of diabetes, which is one among the danger aspects for heart disease.
A fasting blood sugar level of 100 to 125 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL) means you will have a typical precursor to diabetes, called prediabetes. (Normal blood sugar values range from 70 to 99 mg/dL.) An estimated one in three American adults has prediabetes, although most of them don't understand it.
How does diabetes develop?Diabetes is a disease dominated by problems with insulin, the hormone produced by the pancreas that permits cells throughout the body to soak up glucose (sugar) for energy. The most typical form, type 2 diabetes, occurs when the body becomes immune to insulin or when the pancreas stops making enough insulin. The underlying reason for insulin resistance shouldn’t be fully understood, but excess body fat and lack of exercise are thought to play a task. Research shows that belly fat creates hormones and other substances that trigger chronic inflammation, which contributes to insulin resistance. And several studies have linked physical inactivity to insulin resistance. 
If you’ve got insulin resistance, your muscle, fat, and liver cells can't absorb glucose out of your blood as easily, so your blood sugar levels rise. In response, your pancreas tries to maintain up with demand by producing more insulin. But over time, the insulin-producing cells in your pancreas change into weak. This results in pre-diabetes and eventually diabetes. |
The power of deterrence
Dr. Genda says the high prevalence of adult obesity within the U.S., now about 35 percent, is essentially answerable for the diabetes epidemic. But in case your blood sugar is high, you don't have to make drastic changes to see improvement. The Diabetes Prevention Program, a landmark study published 15 years ago, showed that cutting 150 calories a day and walking briskly for half-hour, five days every week, cut the danger of diabetes by greater than half (58%). reduces to You also needs to avoid refined carbohydrates, similar to white rice, foods made with white flour, and sugary foods like candy and soda. Losing weight is good but not absolutely essential.
“I tell my patients, don't be discouraged if you don't lose weight,” says Dr. Genda. If you proceed to exercise commonly, even in case your weight doesn’t change, your body composition will change. Losing fat and gaining muscle will improve your response to insulin, as will exercise itself. “Think of exercise as having a little extra insulin on board,” he says.
Screening advice
Starting in middle age, all adults ought to be screened for diabetes. If you’ve got regular checkups together with your primary care provider, you'll probably have a fasting blood sugar measurement as a part of a routine blood test. If your blood glucose is 100 to 125 mg/dL (or alternatively, HbA1c is 5.7 to six.4), your doctor will likely repeat the test in just a few weeks. If the outcomes are the identical and you’ve got been diagnosed with prediabetes, redouble your efforts to stop progression to diabetes. Diabetes not only increases your risk of heart disease and stroke, but it may well also damage your kidneys, nerves, and eyes.
Healthy weight loss program and exercise habits also needs to improve your blood pressure and cholesterol values. If your fasting blood sugar values fully meet the factors for diabetes (126 mg/dL or higher), national guidelines recommend that you simply take a statin, no matter whether your cholesterol Don't get high.
What about reports that taking statins may increase an individual's risk of diabetes? It's true that many studies have shown a slight increase in recent cases of diabetes after people take statins, Dr. Genda says. However, based on shared lifestyle or genetic risk aspects, these people may already develop diabetes. And overall, the advantages of taking statins far outweigh the danger of diabetes. “Preventing heart disease is more important than preventing diabetes,” says Dr. Genda.
Photo: © solar22/Getty Images