You're at higher risk if you:
- Are overweight or obese
- Have a family history of type 2 diabetes
- Had gestational diabetes
- Are physically inactive
- Have high blood pressure or cholesterol
🩺 Talk to your doctor about getting tested for prediabetes or diabetes — simple blood tests can detect it early.
|
Test
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What It Measures
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|---|---|
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✅ HbA1c
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Average blood sugar over 2–3 months
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✅ Fasting Blood Glucose
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Blood sugar after 8+ hours without food
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✅ Oral Glucose Tolerance Test
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How your body handles sugar
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🎯 Goal: Catch prediabetes before it becomes full-blown diabetes.
✅ Daily Foot Care Tips (For Everyone — Especially at Risk)
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Habit
|
Benefit
|
|---|---|
|
✅ Inspect feet daily
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Use a mirror to check bottoms — look for cuts, redness, swelling
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✅ Wash & dry thoroughly
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Especially between toes
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✅ Moisturize (but not between toes)
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Prevents cracking
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✅ Wear well-fitting shoes
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Avoid blisters and pressure points
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✅ Never walk barefoot
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Protect against injuries
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✅ See a podiatrist annually
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Even if no symptoms
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🩺 For people with diabetes: This is non-negotiable.
❌ Debunking the Myths
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Myth
|
Truth
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|---|---|
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❌ “Only diabetics get foot neuropathy”
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False — other conditions (vitamin deficiencies, alcoholism) can cause it too
|
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❌ “If I don’t have pain, I’m safe”
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Dangerous myth — numbness hides damage
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|
❌ “I’d know if my blood sugar was high”
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Not true — prediabetes has no obvious symptoms
|
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❌ “Natural remedies can reverse neuropathy”
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No cure exists — only management through glucose control
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Final Thoughts
You don’t need pain to know something’s wrong.
But you do deserve to notice the quiet warnings — the dry heel, the tingling toe, the sock that feels tighter than before.
So next time you're taking off your shoes… pause.
Look down. Ask gently:
Have my feet changed?
Then act — calmly, bravely, and without delay.
Because real prevention doesn’t start in the ER. It starts in the moment you decide to pay attention.
And that kind of awareness? It could save your steps — and your life.
