Living Well in Yalobusha County
Prediabetes: Time to Find Out if You Have It
Remember our Healthy You exercise classes are free and continue to meet every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9 to 9:45 a.m. Make sure that you wear cool, comfortable clothes, good walking shoes and bring some water to drink. The nurse is back!!
The 4-H Family & Con-sumer Science (FCS) Clubs (Clover Buds ages 5-7 and Yalobusha Buddies ages 8-18) will meet on Thursday, November 17 at 4 p.m. at the Extension Office in the Multi-Purpose Building. We will be preparing some delicious fall treats. To make sure we have enough ingredients for everyone, please call Pamela at the Extension Office at 675-2730 to let us know your child will be attending.
The FCS 4-H Club is also selling stuffed Christmas tree ornaments that they made. The ornaments are $4 each and can be seen on our facebook page at MSU-Yalobusha County Extension Service. You can also come by the Extension office and pick out your favorite from our wide selection.
Mark your calendar, the MSU Extension Office will be closed Thursday, November 24 and Friday, November 25 for Thanksgiving holidays. We will reopen on Monday, November 28th at 8 a.m.
Prediabetes:
Time to Find Out if You Have It
Could you have prediabetes? It may be more likely than you realize. Approxi-mately 86 million Americans have prediabetes, and more than 74 million are unaware that they have it. Prediabetes is an indicator of long term insulin resistance and a strong risk factor for type 2 diabetes. Your best opportunity to reverse course is today, making now the ideal time to ask your healthcare provider if you should be screened for prediabetes and diabetes.
What is Prediabetes?
If your blood sugar levels are above normal but below the level of diabetes, you have prediabetes. A hallmark of both prediabetes and type 2 diabetes is insulin resistance, a condition in which the liver, muscle, and fat cells become stubborn to the effects of insulin. Instead of responding properly and allowing the smooth passage of glucose out of the bloodstream and into the hungry cells, these dysfunctional organs block the pathway, leaving too much glucose in the blood. In response, the beta cells of the pancreas crank out more insulin to move glucose into the cells in which it belongs.
Long before people have type 2 diabetes, they have prediabetes. And before that, they typically have insulin resistance with normal blood sugar levels. As time passes, the beta cells fail to keep up with the extra demand for insulin. That’s when prediabetes occurs. As more beta cell function is lost, type 2 diabetes occurs. There are usually no symptoms with prediabetes and often none with type 2 diabetes. That’s why so many people have these disorders and don’t know it. Your greatest chance to improve your numbers is when you still have lots of beta cell function and insulin-producing capacity. So time is of the essence.
