Type 2 diabetes: the preventable window
Professional review pending Chronic disease prevention
Between normal blood sugar and diabetes there is a years-long window where modest changes cut progression risk by more than half. Screening every 3 years from age 40 is how you find out you're in it.
Type 2 diabetes rarely arrives suddenly. It is preceded by prediabetes, a stage that produces no symptoms and is detected only by a blood test, and that stage is exactly where prevention works best.
The screening rule
- From age 40, get screened with a fasting glucose or A1C test every 3 years.
- At higher risk (family history, certain ethnic backgrounds, high blood pressure, overweight), screening starts earlier and runs more often; very high risk means every 6 to 12 months.
- The CANRISK questionnaire, validated by the Public Health Agency of Canada for Canada's multi-ethnic population, is a free way to find out which schedule applies to you.
- The thresholds: prediabetes is A1C 6.0 to 6.4% or fasting glucose 6.1 to 6.9 mmol/L; diabetes is diagnosed at A1C 6.5% or fasting glucose 7.0 and up.
Why the window matters
In the landmark Diabetes Prevention Program trial, people with prediabetes who lost about 5% of body weight through diet and activity cut their progression to diabetes by 58%, with benefits still measurable a decade later. The prescription is unheroic: 150 minutes a week of moderate activity, a high-fibre eating pattern (Mediterranean or DASH style), more whole grains, fewer sugar-sweetened drinks. For some higher-risk adults under 60, metformin is an option worth discussing; it cuts progression by about 30%.
Acting on this in Regina
Ask your family doctor or nurse practitioner for an A1C or fasting glucose requisition once you turn 40, or sooner if CANRISK scores you moderate or high. Saskatchewan pharmacists can also help assess your risk, no appointment needed. No provider? The community-run clinics on our resource map are where we'd start.
- Drafted
- 2026-07-19 from the cited public sources
- Review
- awaiting a licensed reviewer in the relevant discipline
- Next review due
- 2027-07-19
- Standard
- General education only, never individual medical advice. See our editorial standard.