Pre-diabetes

Pre-diabetes means that your blood sugar (glucose) level is higher than normal but not high enough to be called diabetes. You may have higher glucose levels after eating, this is called impaired glucose tolerance, or you may have high glucose levels when you are fasting (not eaten anything for more than 8 hours), this is called impaired fasting glucose.

Pre-diabetes is more common in people with the following risk factors:

  • being overweight or obese
  • being older than 40 years
  • having a parent, brother or sister with diabetes
  • those who do very little physical exercise
  • having high blood pressure or high cholesterol
  • women who had a baby weighing more than 4.5kg
  • women who are overweight and have polycystic ovary syndrome

Pre-diabetes is important because you are more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes. Importantly, if you have been diagnosed with pre-diabetes you can make lifestyle changes with a healthy diet and increasing your physical activity to reduce your risk of developing diabetes.

WHERE TO GET HELP

The first point of contact for screening for diabetes mellitus in Botswana will be the local clinics or private surgeries. In Botswana, there is a clinic within the 5 km radius in towns, cities and villages. Specialized diabetes care can be accessed through our primary and district hospitals around Botswana.There is specialized clinic in children with diabetes and other hormonal disorders at Princess Marina Hospital. 

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