Understanding Prediabetes

Prediabetes means your body’s blood sugar levels are higher than normal but not yet in the diabetic range. It’s often symptomless — yet it’s already damaging your arteries, nerves, and veins.

In our St. Louis functional medicine clinic, we routinely detect prediabetes in patients who feel “healthy” but struggle with fatigue, weight gain, or high cholesterol.

How Prediabetes Develops

The main culprit is insulin resistance — when cells stop responding effectively to insulin. The pancreas compensates by producing more insulin, which:

• Drives fat storage (especially visceral fat)
• Promotes inflammation
• Damages blood vessels over time

Vascular Consequences

Even before diabetes, prediabetes causes microvascular damage:

• Endothelial dysfunction (reduced blood flow)
• Poor wound healing
• Increased leg swelling
• Early varicose or spider vein development

That’s why many patients with circulation issues also have elevated fasting insulin or A1C on labs.
Learn more on our Vein and Circulation Evaluation page.

Systemic Effects

Prediabetes increases the risk of:

• Heart attack or stroke by up to 50%
• Kidney disease and neuropathy
• Cognitive decline and brain fog
• Chronic fatigue and poor recovery

Functional Medicine Reversal

We design individualized programs to reverse insulin resistance through:

• Low-glycemic nutrition plans
• Magnesium, berberine, and chromium support
• Mitochondrial repair protocols (CoQ10, PQQ, NMN)
• Hormone balancing and stress optimization

See how we help on our Functional Medicine Metabolic Health page.

Final Thought

Prediabetes is not a mild warning — it’s the early stage of vascular disease.
Reversing it today can prevent the need for lifelong medication tomorrow.
If you live in St. Louis, Ballwin, or Chesterfield, schedule your functional medicine metabolic consultation at Sheen Vein today.

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