Health experts traditionally associate a low body-mass index (BMI) with a healthy lifestyle, proper metabolic function, and a lack of disease. However, even in individuals who maintain a healthy weight, prediabetes risk increases with sedentary lifestyle habits.
Researchers at the University of Florida recently discovered that even slim Americans are at an elevated risk for prediabetes. One-third of Americans with healthy body weight have prediabetes already, which can be a challenge to diagnose when patients exhibit signs of positive health.
What is Prediabetes?
Prediabetes is a condition of uncontrolled, elevated blood glucose levels that may cause type 2 diabetes within ten years if left untreated. While most people who have prediabetes will not experience symptoms, some may notice the following:
- Hunger or thirst that is difficult to ignore and satisfy
- An increase in fatigue, even when performing menial tasks
- An elevated urgency to urinate or increased urination frequency
- Sudden or surprising weight gain
The symptoms of prediabetes, if they surface, are not unusual and can easily be associated with other mundane conditions such as sleep deprivation or improper nutrition. Self-diagnosis is challenging, but a diagnosis by a medical professional is also tough to acquire.
More People Meet Prediabetes Criteria
Lead investigator Arch Mainous III of the University of Florida’s College of Public Health and Health Professions found, along with his team, that a surprising number of their 1,000 subjects age 20 or older had high blood sugar levels.
Those found to have elevated blood sugar had a tendency to lead inactive lifestyles despite their healthy weights. The results also became more decisive as subjects grew older; about 25 percent of inactive subjects met the criteria for prediabetes, while a much larger 40 percent of those 45 or older also met the criteria.
The presence of prediabetes does not guarantee that the condition will evolve into type 2 diabetes, but chronically elevated blood sugar is an extremely effective trigger of the disease. Patients with prediabetes can reverse their risk of diabetes by lowering blood sugar levels to normal with a combination of medication, diet change, and regular exercise.
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Physical inactivity is relatively common, especially in older adults, as seen in this 2014 nationwide survey to determine the percentage of inactive adults age 50 or older in each state. Source: cdc.gov |
Future Testing Still Needed
While the study did not explore a direct cause-and-effect scenario, the findings were enough to push studies about prediabetes risk further. Results are strong enough to begin testing to find direct relationships between a sedentary lifestyle’s effects and prediabetes, especially in studies with a greater number of participants and more strict controls.
If researchers can identify a direct relationship, diabetes prevention could reach a new frontier. The development of prediabetes screenings may allow doctors to cost-effectively shut down the evolution of diabetes before it has a chance to affect at-risk individuals.
