Type-2 diabetes signs 'detectable years before diagnosis'

[JohnEGreen]

The warning signs of type-2 diabetes may be detectable 20 years before the disease is diagnosed, researchers say.

Elevated fasting blood sugar levels and insulin resistance were seen in people years before they developed pre-diabetes, often a pre-cursor to type-2, a study found.

The findings suggest interventions to stop the disease in its tracks should begin far earlier in life, authors say.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45747042

 

[Goonergal]

I can quite believe it @JohnEGreen - knowing what I know now, pretty sure the signs were there for me and probably full on diabetes for several years before diagnosis.

I wish people wouldn’t keep saying that being overweight is a risk factor - surely it’s the other way around? The overweightness is due to insulin resistance - we’re measuring the wrong things. If routine bloods included insulin levels early detection rates would be much higher.

 

[Mr_Pot]

I can quite believe it @JohnEGreen - knowing what I know now, pretty sure the signs were there for me and probably full on diabetes for several years before diagnosis.

I wish people wouldn’t keep saying that being overweight is a risk factor - surely it’s the other way around? The overweightness is due to insulin resistance - we’re measuring the wrong things. If routine bloods included insulin levels early detection rates would be much higher.

Having been diagnosed early, what would you do about it? If the answer is improve your diet, then most people could benefit from that without the diagnosis. How many people actually change their lifestyle when diagnosed pre-diabetic, even less if they were pre-pre-diabetic.

 

[Resurgam]

I am pretty certain that I was showing signs of problems with glucose in my early 20s - but that was the 1970s and all the advice was to eat high carb low fat, so it would probably have done me no good. I worked out that I needed low carbs all by myself, but my doctor would not accept it - low calorie to lose weight, so obvious that I was at fault for feeling so ill on his diet, and all subsequent doctors agreed.

 

[Squire Fulwood]

The warning signs of type-2 diabetes may be detectable 20 years before the disease is diagnosed, researchers say.

Elevated fasting blood sugar levels and insulin resistance were seen in people years before they developed pre-diabetes, often a pre-cursor to type-2, a study found.

The findings suggest interventions to stop the disease in its tracks should begin far earlier in life, authors say.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-45747042

If early signs were detected 20 years ago we would have had a nation on Metformin and statins for 20 years more than necessary. I am glad that they waited to come to this conclusion until the dietary option was available.

 

[Chronicle_Cat]

I have wondered if I was insulin resistant for many, many years (diagnosed recently at 62).

As a child, if I drank orange juice or had pancakes with maple syrup for breakfast, I would become nauseated and feel unwell (not at other times of the day). My mom took me to the doctor who told her (and me) that my blood sugar was unstable in the morning and these items were causing a sharp sudden rise, followed by an even fast crash (hypogylcemia), resulting in nausea and not feeling well. I was advised not to ever eat these items other concentrated sugars at this time of day.

Since my early teens, I struggled with weight until my younger sister who ate more in quantity than I did and more junk food. Again I was taken to the doctor and my mom was told that that I probably has a slower metabolism but they didn't treat children/teens who were still growing. (Good thing as the treatment then was "diet Pills" - amphetamines!)

Being obese, I tried numerous low fat diets over the years in an effort to be healthier. (Sometimes losing weight with a lot of effort, other times not losing). I realize now that these low fat/high carb diets aggravated my insulin resistance & weight and ultimately led to Type 2 diabetes. If I had known this then, I certainly would not have aggravated it by eating high carb and using this diets which made it worse.

 

[zand]

Having been diagnosed early, what would you do about it? If the answer is improve your diet, then most people could benefit from that without the diagnosis. How many people actually change their lifestyle when diagnosed pre-diabetic, even less if they were pre-pre-diabetic.

I would have benefited. I would have loved to have known that all I had to do was to reduce carbs. I was already changing my lifestyle to 'eat healthily' but unfortunately didn't know that insulin resistance was what was making me fat so kept on eating those healthy grains. I think many people have followed the guidelines like I did, only to end up with IR, then T2. If someone had told me that I had too much insulin in my system 20 years ago then I would have read up on the causes and taken action. As soon as I was told I had fatty liver I took action to cure it, but that was too late for me to stop the onset of T2.