What You Need To Know About Borderline Diabetes
Oh, we've come so far in diabetes research and treatments over the years. Just about ten or twenty years ago, you could be diagnosed as being "borderline diabetes" or "pre-diabetes". This gave a false level of reassurance. Treatment for diabetes usually wasn't started, as it wasn't thought of as being necessary, since you were still in a grace period. Then, the patient usually got worse.
Surprise, Surprise
Why did the patient get worse? Because there is no such condition as "borderline diabetes". It's like being pregnant - there is no such thing as being only a little bit pregnant. You are either pregnant or you are not. It's the same with diabetes. You either have it or you don't. There are no known symptoms or signs that point to you having "borderline diabetes".
Unfortunately, decades ago, it was thought that the body put of signs and symptoms that cried out that it was developing diabetes. This is what "borderline diabetes" was called. However, that hope has died. The body does not give off any warning signs before you have to start managing your insulin and diet. You just fall head over heels right into being a diabetic.
However, you can show worse symptoms with your diabetes than the next diabetic. Blood sugar levels differ and symptoms differ. This is kind of like where the myth of "borderline diabetes" got started. The ones who weren't too affected in their everyday life and didn't go easily into comas must be only have "borderline diabetes". No, it was because they managed their health better.
It also parallels the myth of being only a little b9it pregnant. In the first trimester, you don't look pregnant, you usually don't start morning sickness and you feel normal, even though you are pregnant. But by the eighth month you wish you could explode and get it over with already. By the ninth month, you are ready to bite off heads with your bare teeth. That was probably what our ancestors thought of as being "a lot pregnant".
Don't Believe The Hype
This writer heard the term "borderline diabetes" being used by medical professionals in the early 1990's, so this is one medical myth that defiantly refuses to die. If a senior relative or friend insists that they have only "borderline diabetes", don't argue. This is probably what they were told years ago and it's stuck in their heads. In time, the terms "borderline diabetes" and "pre-diabetes" can be put to rest.
