What is impaired glucose tolerance?

Q: I am a 45 years old diabetic man for the last year. I came to know about it when I got abscesses; then I went for glucose tolerance test (GTT). My mother is also a diabetic. The doctor has diagnosed it as impaired glucose tolerance (IGT). What is IGT?

A:IGT stands for impaired glucose tolerance. It is a pre-diabetic condition. It is a stage, which is in between normal and diabetes. In fact, long term complications of diabetes start during this period. These days lot of importance is given to this stage. Unfortunately, this is a symptom free period, even blood sugar values look norma; hence one does not bother. Actually, by paying good attention one can delay or even prevent diabetes. Those who are prone to developing diabetes, 10-15 years before that, pancreas has to produce higher and higher level of insulin to maintain blood sugar normal. And in the process pancreas gets exhausted and when insulin producing cells are reduced to 50% one develops diabetes.