For a few months, my friend, who is 43, has had pre-diabetes or mild or early stage or borderline or suspected or impaired glucose tolerance. If he does not take sugar, rice, or potato, and takes a diet with full care and exercise, he has an absolute normal glucose reading. But this is not always possible. Sometimes control is not possible, so this may become harmful. Hence the doctor had advised him to take Acarbose occasionally (not regularly) to protect from about 30 point high glucose reading. Is this proper? What is other idea when he is in in tea or dining or at an ice cream party? Are two spoons of sugar allowed for a mild diabetic patient without any drugs?

The condition of pre-diabetes is a serious one as it puts individuals at risk for type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular events. It needs to be treated aggressively with lifestyle choices that induce weight loss if obesity is present, maximize physical activity, and lead to a healthy lifestyle. In an American study termed the Diabetes Prevention Program, this was associated with a greater than 50% decrease in risk of developing type 2 diabetes over three years. These individuals who were in the study already had prediabetes. A similar study on individuals with pre-diabetes were treated with Acarbose and there was some benefit in delaying the onset of type 2 diabetes. Therefore, I would say there is some precedent in using Acarbose regularly. This is less certain if the Acarbose is being used only intermittently.

JTL