Do I need to take medication if I have pre-diabetes?

The article is professionally consulted by Master, Doctor Vu Thi Duyen - Department of Medical Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Hai Phong International General Hospital

Pre-diabetes is a health condition that can be improved and returned to normal with early intervention in lifestyle and daily activities. Prediabetes drug interventions may be indicated for certain conditions when dietary and lifestyle modifications are ineffective or less effective. So when are pre-diabetes prescribed drugs and what are oral medications?

In pre-diabetes, blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but still not high enough to diagnose true diabetes. All patients developed pre-diabetes first and then developed type 2 diabetes. The rise in blood sugar in pre-diabetes begins when the body begins to have "insulin resistance". Insulin is an important hormone that helps the body control glucose in the body. If the hormone insulin in the body cannot regulate glucose in the blood and cells, insulin resistance will occur.
Insulin resistance can worsen over time if left unchecked. When you have prediabetes, your body produces insulin to keep your blood sugar levels close to normal. Insulin resistance can worsen with age, and this condition is aggravated when there are many favorable factors such as weight gain, dyslipidemia. If your insulin resistance progresses and eventually cannot make up for it enough by making more insulin, your blood sugar levels will rise and this will become pre-diabetes.

Depending on blood sugar test results, prediabetes may be more specifically referred to as "impaired glucose (sugar) tolerance" or "fasting dysglycemia". Impaired fasting blood sugar means blood sugar levels rise after you haven't eaten for a while.
Impaired glucose tolerance means blood sugar levels reach surprisingly high levels after eating sugar. To diagnose impaired glucose tolerance, endocrinologists usually perform a test: 75g oral glucose tolerance test for patients. For this test the patient will drink a solution containing 75g of sugar and then have blood drawn after 1 hour and 2 hours for diagnosis.
Not all cases of prediabetes turn into diabetes 100% but it does contribute to an increased risk of actually developing the disease. Prediabetes is also a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Like people with type 2 diabetes, people with prediabetes tend to be overweight, have high blood pressure, and have unhealthy cholesterol levels.

Currently, there are some pre-diabetes patients taking medication in combination with dietary changes and daily exercise lifestyle changes. The only drug currently recognized by the Ministry of Health as being good for the treatment of prediabetes is Metformin. Prescribing medication for pre-diabetes when the person with prediabetes has some of the following risk factors: failure to adjust diet and lifestyle after a long time; the test has low HDL cholesterol, high triglycerides; a parent or sibling who has diabetes or is overweight. This drug is prescribed and guided by an endocrinologist, but patients cannot buy and use it themselves.

When pre-diabetic patients are prescribed to take Metformin, the dose to promote its effect is from 1,000mg to 2,000mg, but it is necessary to start at a low dose, starting at 500mg/day for the body to adapt gradually.
So it is best to start taking and getting used to Metformin at a dose of 500/day for one week, then increase the dose by another 500 mg the next week and if not controlled, increase by 500 mg/day in the second week. father. Metformin is not only remarkably effective and good in prediabetes, but it can also be more effective than newer, more affordable, safer drugs that don't cause hypoglycemia—a very interesting complication. seen in patients with diabetes.

Pre-diabetes is a condition that can be recovered well without medication, but only with lifestyle changes.
The aim of prediabetes treatment is to prevent prediabetes from returning and becoming true diabetes. The precautions recommended to prevent prediabetes also work to treat the disease. The most effective treatment for prediabetes is to make daily lifestyle adjustments such as: losing weight and exercising for at least 30 minutes a day. Weight loss and exercise can improve insulin resistance and can lower high blood sugar so you don't progress to diabetes. In addition, the drug metformin (Glucophage) may reduce the risk of diabetes, and it may add to the benefits of weight loss and exercise.
To protect the health of everyone, every home, Vinmec International General Hospital always deploys a screening package for diabetes and dyslipidemia to help detect pre-diabetes early and classify it accurately. type of diabetes, develop a nutritional regimen, monitor to minimize the risks and complications caused by diabetes.
Using the screening package for diabetes and dyslipidemia at Vinmec, patients will get:

Endocrine CK examination (by appointment) Urinalysis (automatic) Determination of Glucose Determination of HbA1c Determination of Uric Acid Determination of Cholesterol Determination of HDL-C (High density lipoprotein Cholesterol) Determination of LDL-C( Low density lipoprotein Cholesterol) Quantification of Triglycerides Quantification of Urea Quantification of Creatinine Measurement of AST Activity (GOT) Measurement of ALT Activity (GPT) Measurement of GGT Activity (Gama Glutamyl Transferase) Determination of MAU (Micro Albumin Arine) Echocardiography, Membrane Cardiac Transthoracic Echocardiogram Normal ECG Doppler ultrasound of the carotid artery, Transcranial Doppler (carotid) Doppler ultrasound of the arteries and veins of the lower extremities (Bilateral lower extremity arteries)

References: webmd.com, mayoclinic.org, healthline.com,drugs.com