10 Prediabetes Signs You MUST Know Before It Is Too Late

Summary

This video highlights the top 10 signs and symptoms of pre-diabetes, a major hidden health threat affecting millions globally. Pre-diabetes, or insulin resistance, impacts around 88 million Americans and can lead to type 2 diabetes. Key symptoms include elevated fasting insulin, fatigue after meals, poor wound healing, numbness, kidney damage, blurred vision, joint pain, weight gain, and constant hunger. Understanding and addressing these early signs can prevent the progression to full-blown diabetes. Subscribe for more insights into mastering health and preventing this widespread condition.

Takeaways

• 🔍 **Pre-diabetes is a critical health threat**: It affects around 88 million people in the U.S., with many unaware they have it.
• 📈 **Insulin resistance as a gradient**: It's not a binary condition but varies in severity, measured by hemoglobin A1c levels.
• 🩸 **Understanding A1c levels**: Normal is below 5.7, pre-diabetes is between 5.7 and 6.5, and type 2 diabetes is above 6.5.
• ⏳ **Progression to type 2 diabetes**: About 75% of pre-diabetics will develop type 2 diabetes within five years.
• 🔄 **Importance of insulin measurement**: Measuring insulin levels can reveal issues earlier than glucose levels.
• 💤 **Fatigue after meals**: A sign of insulin resistance, indicating the body's difficulty in processing carbohydrates.
• 🩹 **Poor wound healing and neuropathy**: These can indicate circulatory problems associated with pre-diabetes.
• 👁️ **Kidney damage and retinopathy**: Pre-diabetes can lead to these conditions if not managed early.
• ⚖️ **Weight gain and hunger**: Insulin resistance can cause weight gain and increased hunger due to the body's tendency to store fat.
• 🔄 **Insulin resistance can affect everyone**: Even those with normal weight can have insulin resistance, highlighting the need for awareness and early detection.

Q & A

What is the main topic of the video?

The main topic of the video is the top 10 signs and symptoms of pre-diabetes, highlighting its prevalence and the importance of recognizing and addressing this condition.

What is pre-diabetes also known as?

Pre-diabetes is also known as insulin resistance.

How many people in the US are affected by pre-diabetes, according to the video?

According to the video, approximately 88 million people in the US are affected by pre-diabetes.

What is hemoglobin A1c and why is it significant in measuring pre-diabetes?

Hemoglobin A1c is a measure of average glucose levels over a three to four month period, as it reflects the amount of sugar that gets stuck to red blood cells. It is significant in measuring pre-diabetes because it provides an indicator of blood sugar levels over time.

What are the official A1c ranges for normal, pre-diabetic, and diabetic categories?

The official A1c ranges are as follows: less than 5.7 is considered normal, between 5.7 and 6.5 is pre-diabetic, and over 6.5 is diabetic.

Why is pre-diabetes called 'pre-' and what does it imply for the future?

Pre-diabetes is called 'pre-' because statistically, around 75% of pre-diabetic individuals will eventually develop type 2 diabetes within a five-year period if left untreated.

What is the estimated number of people with optimal glucose tolerance and handling according to the speaker's guesstimate?

The speaker estimates that there are about 75 million people with optimal glucose tolerance and handling.

What is the typical range for fasting glucose levels in the diagnosis of pre-diabetes?

The typical range for fasting glucose levels in the diagnosis of pre-diabetes is between 100 and 125 milligrams per deciliter.

Why is measuring insulin levels a more accurate way to detect insulin resistance?

Measuring insulin levels is a more accurate way to detect insulin resistance because it reflects how hard the body is working to keep blood sugar levels down, showing a more linear change over time compared to glucose levels, which change slowly and are tightly controlled by the body.

What are the common symptoms of pre-diabetes mentioned in the video?

The common symptoms of pre-diabetes mentioned in the video include fatigue, poor wound healing, numbness and tingling, kidney damage, blurred vision, frequent urination, digestive issues, joint pain and arthritis, weight gain, and increased hunger.

Why is it important to understand and manage pre-diabetes early on?

It is important to understand and manage pre-diabetes early on because if left unchecked, it can lead to serious complications such as kidney failure, vision loss, and other health issues associated with type 2 diabetes.

What is the speaker's view on the relationship between weight and joint pain in the context of insulin resistance?

The speaker explains that weight does not directly cause joint pain in the context of insulin resistance. Instead, insulin resistance causes inflammation, which in turn leads to joint pain and arthritis.

How does insulin resistance relate to weight gain according to the video?

According to the video, insulin resistance relates to weight gain because insulin's role is to lower blood glucose and guide it into cells to be stored as fat. When insulin resistance occurs, the body tends to store more energy as fat, leading to weight gain.

What is the speaker's perspective on the common misconception about hunger and weight gain in insulin resistance?

The speaker clarifies that despite gaining weight, individuals with insulin resistance may experience increased hunger because their body is in a storage mode and has difficulty retrieving the stored energy.

Why does the speaker emphasize that insulin resistance is a significant but not the sole health problem?

The speaker emphasizes that while insulin resistance is a significant health problem affecting a large portion of the population, it is not the only issue. Other health problems may also be present and should not be overlooked.

Outlines

00:00

🚨 Pre-Diabetes: The Silent Health Threat 🚨

This paragraph introduces the concept of pre-diabetes, also known as insulin resistance, as a significant global health issue affecting approximately 88 million people in the U.S. alone. It emphasizes the gradual nature of insulin resistance, measured by hemoglobin A1c levels, and explains the scale from normal A1c levels around 5, to pre-diabetes (5.7-6.4), and type 2 diabetes (above 6.5). The paragraph highlights the potential progression of pre-diabetes to type 2 diabetes within a five-year period for 75% of individuals, indicating a looming epidemic. It also points out that while 88 million are pre-diabetic, an estimated 300 million Americans have some degree of glucose handling problem, largely due to the standard American diet.

05:04

🌡️ Insulin Resistance and Its Early Detection 🌡️

The second paragraph delves into the challenges of diagnosing pre-diabetes through blood sugar levels, which the body tightly regulates. It suggests that measuring insulin levels could provide a more accurate reflection of insulin resistance. The paragraph outlines the early signs of insulin resistance, including elevated fasting insulin levels and fatigue after meals, which indicate the body's struggle to process carbohydrates. It also discusses the relationship between glucose, insulin, and triglycerides, and how high blood fats can result from the body's efforts to manage excess glucose.

10:05

🩹 Symptoms of Advanced Insulin Resistance 🩹

This paragraph discusses advanced symptoms of insulin resistance, including poor wound healing, numbness and tingling due to peripheral neuropathy, and kidney damage linked to micro vessel disease. It clarifies that while frequent urination is often associated with diabetes, it is typically a sign of poorly controlled type 2 diabetes rather than pre-diabetes. The paragraph also touches on the misconceptions about digestive issues and joint pain as direct results of pre-diabetes, explaining that these symptoms are actually related to inflammation caused by insulin resistance.

15:09

🔍 Beyond the Symptoms: Understanding Insulin Resistance 🔍

The final paragraph addresses the broader implications of insulin resistance, beyond the immediate symptoms. It explains that weight gain is a common outcome of insulin's role in guiding glucose into cells for storage as fat. However, it also notes that not everyone with insulin resistance will gain weight, and that thin individuals can also be pre-diabetic or have type 2 diabetes. The paragraph concludes by emphasizing the importance of understanding insulin resistance as a major, but not the sole, health problem, and encourages viewers to subscribe for more health-related content.

Keywords

💡Pre-diabetes

Pre-diabetes, also known as insulin resistance, is a health condition where blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be classified as type 2 diabetes. It is a significant concern as it often goes undiagnosed and can progress to type 2 diabetes if not managed. In the video, it is highlighted as the 'single greatest hidden health threat' with approximately 88 million people in the US affected, indicating its prevalence and the importance of early detection and intervention.

💡Insulin resistance

Insulin resistance refers to a condition where the body's cells do not respond properly to insulin, a hormone that regulates blood sugar levels. This results in higher levels of insulin being produced, which can lead to various health complications. The video emphasizes that insulin resistance is not a binary condition but exists on a spectrum, with the severity indicated by the level of hemoglobin A1c, a measure of average blood glucose over time.

💡Hemoglobin A1c

Hemoglobin A1c, or HbA1c, is a blood test that reflects a person's average blood glucose levels over the past 3 to 4 months. It is a crucial diagnostic tool for diabetes and pre-diabetes, as it measures the amount of glucose that has bound to hemoglobin in red blood cells. The video explains that normal A1c levels are around 5, with levels above 5.7 but below 6.5 indicating pre-diabetes, and levels above 6.5 indicating type 2 diabetes.

💡Type 2 diabetes

Type 2 diabetes is a chronic condition characterized by high blood sugar levels due to insulin resistance or insufficient insulin production. The video script points out that 35 million people in the US have type 2 diabetes, and it is often preceded by pre-diabetes, with a significant risk of progression from pre-diabetes to type 2 diabetes within a 5-year period.

💡Glucose

Glucose is a simple sugar that is the primary source of energy for the body's cells. In the context of the video, glucose levels are monitored to diagnose pre-diabetes and diabetes. The video explains that normal glucose levels are tightly regulated by the body, but in pre-diabetes and diabetes, these levels become elevated, indicating impaired glucose tolerance.

💡Fatigue

Fatigue, particularly after eating, is mentioned in the video as a sign of insulin resistance. When the body is unable to effectively convert carbohydrates into energy due to insulin resistance, it can lead to feelings of tiredness and lethargy. This is a common symptom experienced by individuals with pre-diabetes or diabetes.

💡Peripheral neuropathy

Peripheral neuropathy is a condition characterized by numbness and tingling, often in the extremities, due to damage to the peripheral nerves. In the video, it is linked to pre-diabetes and diabetes as a result of poor circulation caused by excess glucose in the bloodstream, which can lead to nerve damage.

💡Kidney damage

Kidney damage, specifically micro vessel disease, is discussed in the video as a potential complication of pre-diabetes and diabetes. The kidneys contain numerous tiny blood vessels that can be damaged by the swelling and leakage associated with high blood sugar levels, potentially leading to kidney failure if left untreated.

💡Retinopathy

Retinopathy, particularly diabetic retinopathy, is a condition affecting the retina due to damage to the tiny blood vessels in the eye. The video script explains that high blood sugar levels can cause these vessels to swell, leading to blurred vision and potentially vision loss if not addressed.

💡Weight gain

Weight gain is identified in the video as a common symptom of insulin resistance. Insulin's role in guiding glucose into cells for storage as fat can lead to increased body weight. The video highlights that even though individuals with insulin resistance may have more energy reserves in the form of body fat, they continue to gain weight due to the body's tendency to store rather than utilize energy.

💡Hunger

Hunger, despite weight gain, is another symptom of insulin resistance discussed in the video. It is explained that the body's tendency to store rather than retrieve energy can lead to increased hunger, even when there is an abundance of stored fat. This paradoxical hunger can contribute to overeating and further weight gain.

Highlights

Pre-diabetes is the single greatest hidden health threat in the world today.

Approximately 88 million people in the US are affected by pre-diabetes.

Pre-diabetes, also known as insulin resistance, is a gradient, not a binary condition.

Hemoglobin A1c is a key indicator of average glucose levels over three to four months.

Normal A1c levels are around 5, with pre-diabetes ranging from 5.7 to 6.4.

75% of pre-diabetic individuals are likely to develop type 2 diabetes within five years.

An optimal A1c level is considered to be around 5.3.

Elevated fasting insulin is a sign of insulin resistance.

Fatigue, especially after meals, can indicate insulin resistance.

Poor wound healing and numbness/tingling are signs of insulin resistance due to poor circulation.

Kidney damage and micro vessel disease are associated with pre-diabetes.

Blurred vision can result from retinopathy, a micro vessel disease affecting the retina.

Frequent urination is typically a sign of poorly controlled type 2 diabetes, not pre-diabetes.

Joint pain and arthritis can be associated with insulin resistance due to inflammation.

Weight gain is a common symptom of insulin resistance.

Insulin resistance can cause persistent hunger despite weight gain.

Insulin resistance can occur in individuals with normal body weight.

Insulin resistance is a significant but not the sole health problem; other factors should be considered.

Transcripts

Hello Health Champions. This video, the top  10 signs and symptoms of pre-diabetes, may  

be the most important video you will ever watch  because pre-diabetes is the single greatest hidden  

health threat in the world today. Pre-diabetes  also known as insulin resistance affect about 88  

million people in the us today and even though the  us is sort of the worst in the world so far, the  

rest of the world is catching up rather quickly.  And the thing we have to understand about insulin  

resistance is that it's not a condition that you  either have it or you don't it's a gradient it's  

a question of where are you on the scale and the  scale we're going to use here is hemoglobin a1c  

so what is that it's a really good measure of  your average glucose because when you have blood  

sugar which everyone does some of that sugar gets  stuck to the red blood cells and the red blood  

cells live for about three to four months and  therefore if we measure how much sugar gets stuck  

it's a really good indicator of your blood sugar  over a three to four month period and normal  

a1c is going to be somewhere around five so on the  official criteria anything less than 5.7 is normal  

then if you're over 5.7 but below 6.5 then you're  considered pre-diabetic and anybody over 6.5 is a  

type 2 diabetic and in the u.s today as i said we  have 88 million people in the pre-diabetic range  

we have 35 million people with full-blown type 2  diabetes but here's why they call it pre-diabetes  

because around 75 of the pre-diabetics will  get type 2 diabetes statistically not everybody  

but most people will get it and they typically  will develop this somewhere around a five-year  

period so that means the diabetic epidemic that  we've seen is just the tip of the iceberg because  

75 percent of these 88 million people that's  66 million more so in just a matter of time  

we'll probably have a hundred million type two  diabetics but if we don't just wait until we  

are pre-diabetic if we understand that there's  a problem a little bit sooner than that and we  

understand that an optimal a1c is up to about  5.3 then we realize that there's probably  

somewhere around 75 million people and this is my  guesstimate there are no real numbers that I've  

been able to find but just based on what I've  seen based on a lot of blood tests we probably  

have about 75 million optimal people have a normal  and a good glucose tolerance and glucose handling  

so that means that there's people a lot of people  between 5.3 and 5.7 and that would make up about  

150 million people who are slipping and they're  part of this massive momentum of eating the  

standard American diet of eating processed  foods lots of sugar lots of white flour and  

that means that they are also moving they're  slipping so unless they change then these people  

are just younger and they haven't abused their  bodies long enough and if only about 75 million  

people are normal or optimal that means almost  300 million people in the U.S. have some degree of  

a glucose handling problem and that means almost  everyone that you know is affected by this that's  

why it's so important to understand these things  the most common way they diagnose pre-diabetes is  

when blood sugar is higher than normal but not  as high as a diabetic and that means that they  

measure and the glucose is between 100 and 125  milligrams per deciliter and if we measure the  

a1c we just talked about it's between 5.7 and 6.5  even though they estimate 88 million people have  

this they fall in this range ninety percent of  them don't know it and why is it that they don't  

know it it's because we focus on blood sugar we  measure blood sugar but blood sugar is something  

the body works very very hard at keeping in a  very narrow range because it's super important  

for energy for focus for the brain to keep it  at a constant level so we have multiple systems  

in the body that's going to raise it when it's  low and lower it when it's high so if we measure  

something that is tightly controlled we're only  going to see changes when the system has gone  

so far it completely failed and that's why when  we measure blood sugar we'll see it be the same  

year after year after year no your normal no  your normal come back next year no you don't have  

it yet come back next year so 10 years 15 years  into it we basically won't see much difference  

but the way the body keeps it down is with  insulin so if we measured insulin we would see  

how hard is the body working at keeping it down  that's a true measure of insulin resistance  

so in the beginning we might see a pretty  balanced relationship between glucose and insulin  

but a few years later we might see two to  three times as much insulin but the same  

glucose the body is working twice as hard keeping  it down so if we only measure glucose we miss it  

nine years later 12 years later 15 years later and  I'm not exaggerating these numbers that a normal  

level of insulin is about three to four maybe five  but by the time we get to diabetic we're at 25  

and glucose changes very very very slowly like  i said only when the system fails are we going  

to see a change whereas if we watch the insulin  instead we will see almost a linear change so we  

would know where we are on that scale and if we  look at the official criteria for insulin we see  

that it's a very wide range it's almost a tenfold  difference normal is considered 2.6 all the way up  

to 25 whereas glucose has a very very tight range  and if we measured it then we would tell much much  

earlier where we are so sign number two of insulin  resistance which really should be number one but  

it's very rare that they measure it is elevated  fasting insulin sign and symptom number three is  

fatigue and this is especially if you have fatigue  after a meal that's a sign of insulin resistance  

so when you eat food then the purpose of that  food is to be turned into energy and this  

shouldn't take a whole lot of effort for the body  it does require resources and after a big meal you  

often feel kind of relaxed a little tired but you  shouldn't have like a fatigue that interferes with  

what you're doing and if you do get severe fatigue  then it means that your carbohydrate machine is  

broken you have a system to process carbohydrates  but if you have overwhelmed it over time now  

it's not really working anymore so now you ate  carbohydrates but the cells are resisting because  

you've given them too much carbohydrate over too  long a time and they're resisting that's insulin  

resistance so now instead of the food providing  energy you have to use energy to dispose of the  

carbs because they can't stay in the bloodstream  that's dangerous for the brain we have to control  

this blood sugar so the body has to use energy to  convert the glucose into triglycerides and this  

is why triglycerides or blood fats will get high  when you eat glucose so a lot of people on a low  

fat diet will have very very high blood fats  because of this process sign number four is poor  

wound healing when you get a cut  and it just kind of sticks around  

for for weeks and also number five numbness  and tingling which is because of peripheral  

neuropathy and i group these together because they  are essentially the same cause poor circulation  

and why do you get poor circulation because the  excess glucose when you have a constant level  

of too much glucose some of that kind of leaks  out into the tissues the surrounding tissues  

and it's going to bind a little extra water so  we get swelling in the tissues and this prevents  

that blood circulation from functioning  optimally and in the early stages you might  

find that things just happen a little bit slower  and you feel a little funny and if this process  

continues uncontrolled then eventually in  type 2 diabetes it could lead to amputation  

type 2 diabetes is the number one cause  of amputations and you're not going to get  

amputations in pre-diabetes but that's why  it's so important to understand the process  

and change it early number six is kidney damage  and there's something called micro vessel disease  

which is related to the circulatory issues we  just talked about and the kidney has an incredibly  

large number of tiny tiny blood vessels and if  we get swelling then we also get some leaking  

and some destruction of those blood vessels and  if we recognize the early signs we can reverse it  

but if it goes unchecked then we will probably  at some point see kidney failures and type 2  

diabetes is the number one cause of kidney failure  leading to dialysis site number seven is blurred  

vision and this happens because of retinopathy  disease of the retina which is the sensitive  

light detecting area in the back of the eye now  i saw a video with millions of views it was one  

of those animated things with a computerized  voice that said that retinopathy is swelling  

of the lens which of course is incorrect because  the lens is up in the front of the eye and the  

retina is in the back so just like in the kidney  it's a case of micro vessel disease you have tiny  

tiny blood vessels and when these blood vessels  swell then we have damage to the retina and if  

this goes far enough it can result in vision loss  you start with blurred vision then eventually you  

could have vision loss and again type 2 diabetes  is the number one cause of blindness so you want  

to stop it long before that another thing we hear  about very often is frequent urination and that is  

not a problem typically with pre-diabetes because  pre-diabetes is when your blood sugar is 100-125  

and there's something called a kidney or renal  threshold if the blood sugar gets above 180  

now there's too much sugar in the blood for the  kidneys to resorb that so you filter it out with  

the water and then the kidneys reabsorb it but  it has to get pretty high the diabetes has to be  

completely out of control before we start spilling  sugar in the urine and losing water and getting  

very thirsty so that's a sign of a full-blown  really poorly controlled type 2 diabetes another  

thing we often see claimed related to pre-diabetes  is digestive issues and while you can have that  

it's not a causal factor it's an association the  insulin resistance is not causing the digestive  

issues it is probably because you have dysbiosis  you are screwing up your bacterial flora by  

feeding them the wrong foods when you have an  unbalanced flora and now you keep feeding them  

carbs now you get bloating and digestive issues  so yes you can have it but it's not the cause of  

the pre-diabetes number eight is joint pain and  arthritis and while this does happen it's not for  

the reasons we think typically what I hear people  say is I've had hundreds of people come into the  

office and they say I know my knees are hurting  my back is hurting because of my weight if I  

just lost some weight I know I wouldn't have that  pain and that is not how it works we've heard it  

so many times that we think that the weight causes  the pain that there's a direct relationship there  

but that's not true instead insulin resistance  causes inflammation and this inflammation causes  

the joint pain and the arthritis because whether  it's osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis  

it's an inflammatory condition the osteoarthritis  is a much milder form of inflammation but it's  

still inflammation and then of course insulin  resistance also causes weight gain so that's  

number nine is weight gain we know this because  that's the purpose of insulin insulin lowers  

blood glucose it guides that glucose into the cell  where a tiny bit can be stored as carbohydrate and  

most of it gets stored as fat that's the purpose  and we can watch this relationship this causal  

relationship by giving people extra insulin and  watch them gain weight and this is what happens  

in the treatment of type 2 diabetes they're not  treating the diabetes they're treating the blood  

glucose making the diabetes worse and making  the weight worse and sign and symptom number 10  

is hunger so even though you're gaining weight  even though you're having more and more energy  

reserves on your body in the form of fat you're  getting hungrier and hungrier because when you're  

insulin resistant your body has a tendency  to store rather than retrieve so even though  

you have all that energy you can't get to it your  body is in storage mode you're gaining weight but  

you're getting hungrier so you're gaining weight  but you're getting hungrier and on and on and this  

is the real problem this is why we can't control  our behavior that's why it's not about calories  

it's about insulin and insulin resistance but  there's two more things that we have to realize  

is that you don't necessarily gain weight when  you become insulin resistance because a lot of  

it has to do with the liver and a lot of people  even thin people they might have a tiny little  

bit of a pot belly usually but you can become  pre-diabetic and type 2 diabetic with a normal  

body weight and the other thing to understand is  that this is the biggest health problem that we  

have but it's not the only problem so if you're  watching this don't automatically think that all  

of what's going on with you is insulin resistance  it is 80 or so of the problem for most people but  

it's not the only problem. If you enjoyed this  video you're going to love that one, and if you  

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