Pre-Diabetes: Action is the Best Medicine

November is National Diabetes Month and “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” certainly can be applicable to a pre-diabetes diagnosis. Action here is the best medicine, and there are many things you can do. With pre-diabetes there are simple steps you can take to change things, such as adapting your food choices and increasing your daily physical activity.

Remember that pre-diabetes doesn’t mean you’ll develop type 2 diabetes, particularly if you follow a treatment plan and make changes to your lifestyle through food choices and physical activity. Even small changes can have a huge impact on delaying or preventing diabetes altogether.

A1C blood levels: This is a simple blood test that measures your blood sugar levels. Your physician will tell you how often you need to repeat this test. This is helpful in monitoring your progress as you work to change lifestyle habits to avoid going from pre-diabetes to type 2 diabetes.

Food choices and your level of activity become even more important if you are overweight and struggle with losing weight, which contributes to pre-diabetes and type 2 diabetes. If you struggle with sticking to a plan, don’t hesitate to get help from a health care professional or coach.

The Medical Center’s FitMed Program

FitMed is an evidence-based weight management lifestyle program that utilizes a combination of medical consultation, nutritional guidance and health coaching to deliver meaningful and effective weight loss and maintenance.

Dr. Carlos Smith and assistant Amy Walton work with patients to implement FitMed’s approach for lasting results in weight loss and subsequent management. As with hypertension and diabetes, successful weight management requires ongoing, lifelong effort, treatment and awareness.

Learn more about the Medical Center’s FitMed program here.

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