Receiving a diagnosis of any chronic condition can be worrisome. If you receive a diabetes diagnosis, you’ll likely be put into contact with an entire team of doctors to create a lifestyle plan that suits your needs and medical requirements. If you have pre-diabetes, though, the path isn’t always so clear-cut.

What Is Pre-Diabetes?

Pre-diabetes is usually asymptomatic and can go undetected for months or even years until full-blown diabetes is developed. Fortunately, though, regular screening can catch pre-diabetes, and lifestyle changes can prevent pre-diabetes from becoming diabetes.

How Do the Two Differ?

Pre-diabetics do not have blood sugar highs quite as drastic as those with diabetes. To qualify for a diabetes diagnosis, a patient’s blood sugar level has to consistently spike to 126 mg/dL. In a pre-diabetes patient, fasting blood sugar levels linger between 100 and 125 mg/dL while a non-diabetic should have a fasting level of less than 100 mg/dL.

Because pre-diabetes is not the full condition, it does not have some of the more dangerous potential complications of diabetes such as permanent nerve damage or an irreparably damaged circulatory system. That being said, even a pre-diabetic who never goes on to develop the full diagnosis should exercise care as even slightly suspended blood sugar levels can lead to heart and arterial damage.

Controlling Pre-Diabetes

Some cases of pre-diabetes may require medication—particularly those with higher risk factors than the general population. Most pre-diabetics manage their condition using diet and exercise alone, making healthier lifestyle choices to retrain their bodies from properly storing and utilizing food. Consistency is one of the most important factors in staying away from a full diabetes diagnosis. If your body struggles to use its food sources properly, yo-yo dieting and intermittent exercise may make the problem worse.

Pre-diabetes is currently categorized as a separate condition, but having pre-diabetes is a paved pathway to Type 2. You may never go on to develop Type 2 at all, but your body should be treated with the same care a diabetic patient must use.