You might be experiencing some type of symptoms in your health that are new to you. You might even be thinking about either going to see your doctor or planning a new diet and exercise.

You might not even be aware that the symptoms you are experiencing could be borderline diabetes; that you are at risk of developing type-2 diabetes.

If this is you, we are going to look at what this borderline prediabetes is, because there are some warning signs, serious warning signs of type-2 diabetes that you simply cannot afford to ignore.

Borderline diabetes can easily lead up to type-2 diabetes. According to the American Diabetes Association, there are an estimated 10-23% of people who have borderline diabetes and who will develop type-2 diabetes in the next 5 years.

In fact, the onset of type-2 diabetes might have been gradual for you, you might not even have been aware that you were starting to develop it. This is because the symptoms can be so mild in the early stages – that’s why so many people don’t even realize they have the condition.

Let’s look at the early warning signs:

• Are you urinating frequently? When your blood sugar levels are high, your kidneys will be trying to remove all the excess sugar by trying to filter it out of your blood – this will automatically lead to you running to the toilet to urinate more. This can show up more at night-time.

• Are you becoming thirstier? When you urinate frequently to remove the excess sugar from your blood, this can result in your body losing more water, right? And over time, this can cause you to become dehydrated and lead to you feeling more thirsty.

• Not only thirsty but hungry too? Those who do have diabetes do not usually get enough energy from the foods they eat – the digestive system’s job is to break down food into simple sugar which is known as glucose – this the body uses as fuel.
  
  But when it comes to diabetes in people, not enough glucose moves from the bloodstream into the body’s cells. That means you feel constantly hungry, despite even having eaten recently.

• Always tired? When you have type-2 diabetes, your energy levels get sapped, and you just simply feel fatigued and tired. Why so? Because there is insufficient sugar moving from your bloodstream into your body cells, kind of depriving your body of getting the energy it needs to get through the days.

• Not seeing clearly anymore? When you have an excess of sugar in your blood, this can easily damage those tiny little blood vessels in your eyes – that can cause blurry vision. It might not be constant and it can either be in both eyes or just one.
  
  Unfortunately though, if you are showing the warning signs of type-2 diabetes, and you have realized these above symptoms and you ignore them, you can further damage the blood vessels in your eyes, and then permanent vision loss can eventually occur.

We said 5 warning signs, but there are even more:

• Are your wounds and cuts taking longer to heal? Once again, when you have high levels of sugar in your blood, the nerves and blood vessels can become damaged enough to impair your blood circulation.
  
  Because of this, even little wounds and cuts can take much longer to heal; maybe weeks and even months. And that brings an added mishap in that any wounds that are slow to heal stand the risk of becoming infected as well.

• Are your hands and feet feeling tingly and maybe even numb? When your blood sugar levels are high, your blood circulation can be affected – your body’s nerves can even get damaged.
  
  If you are someone with type-2 diabetes, you could end up with pain and a feeling of numbness and tingling in your feet and hands. This condition is called neuropathy. It can worsen over time, leading on to even more serious complications if you don’t get your symptoms treated a.s.a.p.

• Noticing patches of dark skin? Look at the areas where your skin creases, like in your neck, your armpit areas, the groin areas; you might notice patches of dark skin in these areas – these are also warning signs of type-2 diabetes. Check how these patches look; they might be velvety and soft.
  
  There is even a name for this too; it’s called acanthosis nigricans.

• Yeast infections and itching on the rise? If you have excess sugar in your blood as well as your urine, it is easy for yeast infections to develop, and this can lead on to infection.
  
  A yeast infection enjoys moist, warm areas on the skins, like your mouth, the armpits, and the genital areas. These affected areas can become itchy and you could also experience those areas being red, with soreness and burning symptoms.

It’s vital to get an early diagnosis

In order to avoid any further complications, you need to recognize type-2 diabetes warning signs so that you can immediately get a diagnosis and start treatment sooner than later. This will allow you to make the necessary lifestyle changes to control your blood sugar levels.

In this way, you can greatly improve your health and quality of life. If you avoid treatment, and you have consistently high levels of blood sugar, you are knocking on the door of some serious life-threatening complications.

These can be things like:

• Stroke
• Heart disease
• Nerve damage, known as neuropathy
• Foot problems
• Eye disease and loss of vision
• Kidney disease to the point where you might need dialysis treatment
• Sexual problems in both men and women

Unfortunately, if you leave type-2 diabetes as untreated, it can further lead on to hyperosmolar hyperglycemic nonketotic syndrome (HHNS) - a big name, bringing with it just as big problems if you don’t heed the warning signs. It’s an emergency; when your blood sugar levels are very high, probably over 600 mg/dl.

Often when you become ill, the illness will trigger off HHNS, which can end up with you needing hospitalization. And the longer the blood sugar levels remain out of control, the higher the risk of developing other health problems.

These are the risks factors for type-2 diabetes

Even though anyone can develop type-2 diabetes, there are certain factors which can increase your risk. These are:

• If you are older than 45
• If you smoke
• If you live a sedentary life, without doing any exercises
• If you are overweight or obese
• If you eat unhealthy diets, i.e. processed foods, sugar, unhealthy fats, etc., cigarette smoking and alcohol abuse
• If you have members of your family or relatives with diabetes
• If you have PCOS (polycystic ovary syndrome)
• If you have a medical history of gestational diabetes, stroke or heart disease
• If you know you have been pre-diabetic
• If you are an African American, a Latino or Hispanic person, Alaska Native, American Indian, Native Hawaiian, Asian American, or Pacific Islander.

Tomorrow's prevention, today

With early detection and treatment of type-2 diabetes, you can improve your quality of life and also reduce the risk of further severe complications.

Pre-diabetes and type-2 diabetes are reversible, so says the very well-known Dr. Axe. But you can nip it in the bud by starting immediately with a balanced, nutritious diet which moderates sugar intake, and with regular exercises.

Not only will exercising and making the necessary dietary changes prevent you from contracting type-2 diabetes, but you also protect your heart against future diseases.

Borderline diabetes is the stage just before type-2 diabetes develops. People with prediabetes have higher-than-normal blood sugar levels, although doctors don’t consider them to have diabetes yet.

If you don’t nip the prediabetes in the bud, in 5 years you can count on developing type-2 diabetes, and if you have type-2 diabetes symptoms already, you need to act TODAY.

Apart from type 1 diabetes, today there is massive growth in the cases of children contracting type 2 diabetes as well. Unfortunately, it comes forth as a much more aggressive type of disease in children than adults.

The experts say that children who develop type 2 diabetes could die before their parents even do. That’s not surprising seeing as diabetes is being one of the greatest health threats facing the world as the obesity epidemic amongst children and adults continues to rise.

But to be clear, when you see an overweight person, even a grossly overweight person, it does not mean to say they will get diabetes. If you are genetically pre-disposed to diabetes then the disease can be triggered.

The signs are similar in both adults and children

Adults and children however typically develop different types of diabetes. You will find type 2 diabetes occurring much more frequently in adults than children.

In fact, diabetes accounts for 25% of the adults over 60, even though type 2 diabetes is becoming rampant as well among children and young adults as well. Type 1 diabetes usually develops in adolescents and children.

Adults and children usually experience similar symptoms of diabetes. Children and young teens, however, often find it more difficult to accept that they have diabetes.

Sometimes teens even forgo their treatment so that they are in line with their peers, instead, turning to substance abuse, alcohol drinking, and cigarettes. These make it all the more difficult for the teen to manage their blood sugar levels.

Young kids and adolescents will benefit from support groups and counselors so that they feel understood and less isolated amongst their peers.

Let’s just look at the two major diabetes types:

• Type 1 diabetes: The immune system attacks the pancreas, destroying the cells that make insulin.
• Type 2 diabetes: The pancreas is still able to make insulin, but the body does not properly respond to it.

You can’t prevent getting type 1 diabetes

Doctors can’t say to anyone that they are predisposed to get type 1 diabetes. Scientists think it’s in the genes, but that it isn’t quite enough to say it, because generally, a child would need to be exposed to something like a virus to develop type 1 diabetes.

Fortunately, it is not contagious for kids, teens, and adults; it’s not a disease that can be passed from one person to another. And when you eat too much sugar as a child and teen, it’s not going to cause that child to get type 1 diabetes, either.

In fact, there isn’t a reliable way to say who will get type 1 diabetes. Blood tests can find early signs of it, but these tests aren’t done routinely and doctors can’t stop the disease in any case even when the tests prove positive.

Type 2 diabetes, on the other hand, can often be prevented

When you are overweight or obese, and you lead a sedentary type of life, you are putting yourself at risk to get type 2 diabetes.

In the past, adults were the only ones who would usually get type 2 diabetes, but now the kids and teens are being diagnosed with it as well. It is because the number of overweight teens and kids has grown so fast.

Even though young people might be unable to prevent and even delay the start of type 2 diabetes by taking care of their weight and involving themselves in physical activities, there are other risk factors for type 2 diabetes which can’t be changed.

Those are the children who have one or two family members with type 2 diabetes and who are at increased risk of getting the disease. There are some racial and ethnic groups which are more susceptible to getting it as well.

Early signs of types 1 and 2 diabetes

• You will definitely have elevated blood sugar levels,
• You will feel the urge to urinate often because of high amounts of glucose in the urine. This, in turn, leads to you being more dehydrated, and being dehydrated urges anyone to need to drink more because of increased thirst.
• Being insulin deficient can make you lose weight. This insufficient insulin prevents your blood from getting blood into the body’s cells for energy use.
  
  This causes the body to start burning muscle and fat for energy causing you to lose weight. This can occur despite you having an increased appetite.
• People with diabetes always complain of being tired.
• Nausea with vomiting is an early sign of untreated diabetes.
• You will also notice infections of the bladder, the skin and also in the vaginal area as an early sign. Some people with diabetes have bladders which don’t empty well, leaving urine staying in the bladder too long, which can cause bacteria to breed.
• Because of fluctuations in your blood glucose levels, you can be experiencing blurred vision.
• If you have not been diagnosed with diabetes yet, and your glucose levels are extremely high, you can be so lethargic you can slip into a coma.
• If it’s a child, there might be bed-wetting in the child who previously didn’t wet their bed.
• Often there are mood changes and irritability.

How can you protect yourself and the kids from developing type 2 diabetes?

When you see and realize the symptoms of diabetes, you definitely need to get a diagnosis from your doctor. That’s step one. If you don’t want to get this disease, follow these steps:

• Eating a healthy diet is imperative. This means low fat and nutrient-rich foods.
• It’s time to cut down big-time on sugary foods and soda drinks because when a lot of sugar is consumed, a lot of weight is gained.
• You and the kids need to get involved in plenty of physical activities because staying active is the name of the game. Time spent watching TV, or playing computer games increases the chances of weight gain.
  
  Get out there and mow the lawn, take a walk, take the stairs. Try things that get you and the kids on the move each day.
• If you do think you and your kids are overweight and at a risk for type 2 diabetes, you need to chat to your doctor or even a registered dietitian because they can help you know what your weight goals should be and how you can reach them. A doctor will ask about the child’s symptoms, take blood samples and urine tests.
  
  The most important treatments will be lifestyle interventions, which will include weight management, dietary changes, and exercise. Insulin might be prescribed with other medications and the child might need to regularly monitor his or her blood glucose levels.
  
  Parents and caregivers need to let the child’s teachers and coaches, etc. know of treatment plans so supervision of diabetes occurs away from home.

Eat, play, and live right

Type 2 diabetes is becoming much more prevalent in children today, as are adults; with childhood obesity continuing on the upward climb. Even though the condition can be difficult to detect in kids, it is even harder to determine the long-term effects of having it at such a young age.

That is why it is essential to focus on healthy lifestyle habits straight away, not only to protect your children and your own health but to save your purse from appearing as if the bottom has fallen out, let alone the feeling that you have lost a part of your life.