You meet with your doctors to go over your latest blood test results and hear them say that your blood sugar is higher than optimal. Perhaps they mention that you are pre-diabetic or maybe you have type 2 diabetes. Your next steps could be, depending on who your doctor is, getting a treatment plan, being referred to a type 2 diabetes prevention or a Diabetes management program. For most of us, this is a scary prognosis and oftentimes overwhelming. Questions such as, What should I eat? How do I get healthier? Do I need nutrition and fitness counseling? are a few we may ponder. In these situations the first place to start is to understand what it means to be Prediabetic or Type 2 diabetic.
What does it mean to have Pre-diabetes?
“Approximately 96 million American Adults have prediabetes and more than 80% do not know they have it.”- CDC
Prediabetes can be considered the precursor of diabetes. Before developing type 2 diabetes, most would have pre-diabetes. Prediabetes means that your blood sugar is higher than normal but not to the levels of Diabetes. According to the Centers for Disease Control, the Risk factors of Pre-diabetes include:
- Being overweight
- Being 45 years or older
- Having a parent, brother, or sister with type 2 diabetes
- Being physically active less than 3 times a week
- Ever having gestational diabetes (diabetes during pregnancy) or giving birth to a baby who weighed more than 9 pounds
- Having polycystic ovary syndrome
Pre-diabetes disproportionally affects African Americans, Hispanic/Latino Americans, American Indians, Pacific Islanders, and some Asian Americans. However, the good news is prediabetes can be completely reversed.
To learn more about Type 2 Diabetes prevention programs: https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/prevention/program-providers.htm and https://jamahwell.wordpress.com/preventt2-program/
Managing Type 2 Diabetes
Do you have Type 2 Diabetes? What now? There are several resources available to help manage Type 2 Diabetes. The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) recommends four steps to help manage your diabetes
- Step 1: Ask your health care provider to refer you to Diabetes Self-Management Education and Support program (DSMES)
- Step 2: Know your ABCs (A for A1C test; B is for blood Pressure; C is for Cholesterol; s is for smoking)
- Step 3: Learn to live well with diabetes: This means making healthy food choices; staying active; discussing questions and concerns about your medications with your doctors.
- Step 4: Get your care routine to stay healthy: Join a diabetes self management group and/or stay connected with your health care team to find and treat problems early.
Type 2 Prevention and Management diabetes:
Jamah Well 
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