Chronic Disease Management
Prediabetes is common, often silent, and still reversible. This guide covers the warning signs, who should get screened, and why early action matters.
According to the CDC, roughly one in three American adults has prediabetes, meaning blood sugar is elevated but not yet in the diabetes range. More than 80 percent of them do not know it. That is tragic because prediabetes is the stage where the story is still fully reversible.
Potential warning signs include increased thirst and frequent urination, fatigue after meals, increased hunger especially for carbohydrates, darkened skin patches on the neck or underarms, slow-healing cuts, frequent infections, blurry vision that comes and goes, and weight gain around the middle that resists diet changes.
The uncomfortable truth is that most people with prediabetes have no symptoms at all. That is why screening matters more than symptom-watching.
Screening is a simple blood test, usually fasting glucose or A1C. You should be tested if you are 35 or older, or younger with risk factors such as overweight, a family history of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, a history of gestational diabetes, or certain higher-risk ethnic backgrounds.
If any of that describes you and you have not been tested in the past three years, it is worth booking the test.
The Diabetes Prevention Program showed that modest lifestyle change, losing five to seven percent of body weight and getting 150 minutes of weekly activity, cut progression to diabetes by 58 percent, outperforming medication.
That is not a fad diet. It is roughly 10 to 14 pounds for a 200-pound person and a half-hour walk five days a week.
If your numbers land in the prediabetes range, Dr. Sudha Challa, MD builds a plan around realistic nutrition changes, activity you will actually do, follow-up testing to track progress, and physician-supervised weight loss support when it helps.
Next Step
Our Doraville office runs A1C and glucose testing on-site, so screening can happen during a regular visit. If your numbers land in the prediabetes range, Dr. Sudha Challa, MD can build a realistic plan around your life.
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