What is pre-diabetes?
When you have a blood test, we can look for signs of diabetes.
If your HbA1C levels (the level of glucose in your blood) are between 42mmol/mol – 47mmol/mol we call this pre-diabetes. This means the sugar levels in your bloodstream are persistently high. You can find out more about Type 2 diabetes and the health problems it can cause here on NHS Inform.
If you don’t make changes to your lifestyle, there’s an increased risk you might develop Type 2 diabetes.
What should I do now?
If a doctor or nurse at the Practice has told you that you have pre-diabetes (or you’ve received a letter or text message to let you know) then please contact us in 12 months time to book a repeat blood test, so we can check your HbA1c levels again and re-assess your risk of diabetes.
Please set yourself a reminder now to book a blood test, in 12 months time.
If in the meantime you develop any symptoms which might be linked with diabetes (including increased thirst, passing urine more often, changes in eyesight or thrush) then please call the Practice after 11am or come to the front desk to book an appointment with one of our specialist nurses – don’t wait for the review in 12 months.
Most importantly – please consider making lifestyle changes that will reduce your risk of developing diabetes.
Where can I get advice about the lifestyle changes I should make?
NHS Lothian offers this free six-hour Lets prevent diabetes course, which involves an interactive face-to-face group discussion with up to 10 people at a time attending. You can self-refer to this programme – just go to their website to find the details. You can bring someone to the sessions with you, if you like.
During the course you can ask any questions you have about pre-diabetes, and they’ll help you make practical lifestyle changes that will reduce your risk of going on to develop Type 2 diabetes. The NHS Lothian Type 2 diabetes prevention team and the NHS Lothian Weight Management service both input into this course.
If attending this one-day course wouldn’t work for you, there’s also an online learning programme the ‘Lets prevent diabetes’ team may be able to arrange for you – please ask the team when you self-refer.
If you just want to read some information online, you can look at the information below and on the Diabetes UK website.
What can I do to improve my diet?
Making healthier choices in your diet can help improve your blood sugar levels and help to prevent diabetes, but also improve your overall health.
To get help with your weight, you can self-refer to the NHS Lothian weight management service – their contact details are on their website.
Some ways of helping to improve your diet by yourself include:
Movement and keeping active
Any extra movement you can do in your day is good for your health. There are a huge range of activities you can get involved with in Musselburgh, as well as doing activities on your own or with friends. You can get more information on local Health and Wellbeing Walks and classes including yoga, zumba and seated exercise classes here on the East Lothian Council website. We also have a list of these in our main waiting room.
We recommend trying to do something active every day, and over time try to gradually build up to doing 150 minutes of activity every week. This is the same as doing 30 minutes of activity, 5 days a week.
This can include many different activities – for example, walking, cycling, swimming or even heavy housework where your breathing is increased but you’re still able to talk. Or you could aim for 75 minutes a week of vigorous exercise – for example, running where your breathing is fast and you find it difficult to talk.
It’s also recommended that adults do strength and balance exercises twice a week, to keep your muscles and bones strong. Muscle strengthening activities can include heavy gardening, carrying heavy shopping or resistance exercise.