Don’t let the “pre” fool you. Prediabetes is a serious health condition.
Most importantly, symptoms of prediabetes and diabetes can feel different for women.
Knowing the specific signs and taking care of them may help you prevent type 2 diabetes and improve the quality of life.
Prediabetes is the condition when your blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not yet high enough to be diagnosed as type 2 diabetes.
It can lead to different, worse complications when it develops.
Given this, there are certain signs and symptoms that experts advise women to look out for to know if they’re at risk of developing prediabetes.
It’s important to emphasize that prediabetes can affect anyone, with any lifestyle, age, race, ethnic group, sex, or gender.
However, the condition can often have more serious effects on women when compared to men.
Women Are at a Greater Risk
A 2019 literature review found that when compared to men with prediabetes who then developed diabetes, women experienced:
- 30% greater risk of death from cardiovascular disease
- 58% greater risk of death from coronary heart disease
- 13% greater risk of death from all causes
The number of female deaths from diabetes in the United States has increased over time.
In 2020, there were 23.1 female deaths from diabetes for every 100,000 females, and by December 2021, this figure rose to 26.7.
Main Risk Factors for Prediabetes
Prediabetes can affect anyone.
However, there are certain factors that increase your chances of developing the condition.
You’re at risk for prediabetes if you:
- Are over the age of 45
- Are overweight, especially around your abdomen
- Have a history of diabetes in your family
- Have a history of gestational diabetes
- Have high blood pressure
- Have high cholesterol
- Aren’t active more than three times a week
- Have PCOS
- Have a history of heart disease or stroke
- Are a smoker
- Have sleep apnea – a condition that disrupts sleep repeatedly
Signs and Symptoms of Prediabetes in Women
Prediabetes doesn’t usually have such clear signs or symptoms as diabetes.
Some may have darkened skin on certain parts of the body. It can appear around your:
However, if you think you are prone to developing prediabetes, you should check for these symptoms as well, as it might indicate that you are heading toward developing or have already developed type 2 diabetes:
- Increased thirst and hunger
- Frequent urination
- Weight loss or weight gain with no obvious cause
- Fatigue
- Nausea
- Blurry vision
- Wounds that heal slowly
- Skin infections
- Acanthosis nigricans, or patches of darker skin at the armpits, groin, and back of the neck
- Irritability
- Breath that has a sweet, fruity, or acetone-like odor
- Reduced feeling in the hands or feet
If you are a woman, there are more symptoms to look out for. There are complications of prediabetes and diabetes unique to women:
#1 Candida infections
Higher levels of glucose in the blood can encourage fungal growth.
Oral or vaginal yeast infections can result from yeast overgrowth brought on by the Candida fungus.
So, women with diabetes who have difficulty controlling their blood sugar may find themselves particularly prone to yeast infections.
Symptoms of an infection in the vaginal region can include:
- Soreness and irritation
- White curd appearance on the skin
- Pain during sexual intercourse
- White vaginal discharge
- Reddening of the vulva
- Itching around the vagina
#2 Urinary tract infections (UTIs)
UTIs happen when bacteria, often from the skin or rectum, enter the urethra and infect the urinary tract.
High blood sugar levels in women can make their immune systems more vulnerable and more prone to having this infection.
UTIs can cause:
- Frequent and strong urge to pee
- Pain, a burning feeling, or discomfort when peeing
- Urine that has a strong smell and is cloudy, dark, or bloody
- Pain in the back and/or lower abdomen
If these symptoms are left untreated, there’s a risk of kidney infection.
#3 Vaginal dryness
When you have prediabetes or diabetes, vaginal dryness can happen a lot. High blood sugar can cause damage to the blood vessels in your vagina. This leads to a lack of lubrication.
This can also trigger tingling and loss of feeling in different parts of the body, including the following:
- Hands
- Feet
- Legs
#4 Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
It’s a condition that affects a woman’s hormone levels and menstrual cycle.
It makes women produce an abnormal amount of male sex hormones that are usually present in women in small amounts.
This hormone imbalance causes their body to skip menstrual periods and makes it harder for them to get pregnant.
Symptoms of PCOS can also include:
- Weight gain
- Acne
- Depression
- Baldness
PCOS is associated with a type of insulin resistance that elevates blood sugar levels and increases your risk of developing diabetes. Insulin resistance may be either a symptom or a cause of PCOS.
IMPORTANT: Keep in mind that many people with prediabetes or diabetes can have no noticeable symptoms at all. That’s why it’s important to have occasional doctor’s visits.
Preventing or Treating Prediabetes
As already stated, certain signs become obvious during the developing stage of diabetes.
However, experiencing these signs in the beginning stage of a possible diabetes disease doesn’t necessarily imply you can do nothing to help the situation.
On the contrary, you can take several steps to reverse prediabetes and prevent diabetes.
This section considers certain steps you can take if you think you’re developing prediabetes or diabetes or are experiencing more than two of the symptoms mentioned in this article.
#1 Understanding your genetics
Genetics is one of the major causes of prediabetes in women.
If you have a relative or a family history of people with prediabetes or diabetes, then you have an increased risk of developing the condition.
While it may not show at first, you’re likely to experience blood sugar spikes more often than normal.
To know if this is a risk factor, you should take a genetic test and determine if you’re prone to the condition.
#2 Being active
Exercise is a great way to prevent diabetes and stabilize your blood sugar levels.
When we work out, our bodies use up excess glucose, allowing us to eliminate possible risk factors for the condition.
If you’re 45 or older, you should incorporate exercise into your daily routine to reduce your chances of developing the condition.
It’s important to note that being active does NOT necessarily mean going to the gym or running in the mornings.
You can get a dose of your daily movement by working in the garden, walking around your neighborhood, or just doing your daily chores.
#3 Adopting a healthier diet
One of the most important things you can do to help combat diabetes is to focus on what you’re eating.
Excessive consumption of sugary foods will increase blood sugar levels quickly and increase your vulnerability to developing diabetes.
This can lead to further complications like digestive and kidney diseases, heart diseases, erectile dysfunction, and diabetic ketoacidosis.
With this being said, you should eat more healthy foods with a low glycemic index and high fiber content, for example, vegetables like broccoli and lettuce, as well as whole-grain foods.
Conclusion
Prediabetes in women is a serious condition, just as it is for men.
If left unchecked, women with prediabetes can develop diabetes and even suffer further consequences, as this article has revealed.
However, the good thing is that there are steps that you can take to reduce the risk factors and accompanying symptoms of diabetes development.
With a proper understanding of the condition and some changes to their day-to-day lifestyle, women can easily live a non-diabetic life and minimize their insulin dependence.
While this guide highlights many methods to prevent diabetes, one key factor is following a balanced eating plan that meets your personal needs.
One of the major diabetes-controllable factors is what we eat.
Generally, the key is to avoid or drastically reduce high-sugar foods. However, knowing how to do that may prove difficult for some.
Luckily, there are many options to get around this difficulty.
There are quite a few digital apps designed for people with prediabetes that can help you eat the right foods.
The Klinio app, with more than 180,000 customers, is a great example of that.
It’s a diabetes meal planner that creates a personalized plan to help you eat healthily and manage diabetes with ease.
This app also offers gym-free exercises, a detailed tracker for your metrics, a weekly grocery list, and daily educational content with practical tips on how to prevent prediabetes without losing the pleasure of food in your everyday life.
If you’re interested in losing weight, stabilizing your blood sugar levels, or just generally improving your health, this could be perfect for you.
Important Notice: This article was originally published at https://healthinsider.news by Edibel Quintero, RD where all credits are due.
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