Primordial prevention
Attempts to reduce the risk factors for diabetes, e.g., reducing or preventing obesity to reduce the future risk of diabetes or prevention of prediabetes stage.
Primary prevention
It targets people who are in the stage of prediabetes to prevent the onset of diabetes. All people with prediabetes should be regularly screened and encouraged to pursue a healthy lifestyle, including a healthy diet, adequate exercise and weight control in order to prevent diabetes.
Secondary prevention
It is to prevent the onset of complications associated with diabetes in those who have already developed diabetes. This can be achieved by having a good control over the blood sugar, blood pressure and lipid levels with the help of a healthy lifestyle and taking anti-hyperglycemic drugs as indicated.
Tertiary Prevention
It is to prevent end-stage complications in those who have already developed some complications of diabetes by limiting disability and initiating rehabilitation measures
Thus, primordial and primary prevention contribute most to the health of the whole population by preventing the onset of the disease and its risk factors, while secondary and tertiary prevention is focused on restoring the health of individuals with the disease.
The ‘Five Steps’ emphasised to delay or prevent diabetes include:
- increasing intake of a healthy diet
- increased physical activity
- maintaining ideal body weight
- reducing stress (meditation, exercise, counselling, time management etc.) and
- screening for diabetes at regular intervals
The value of healthy eating is also encouraged through increased intake of fruits and vegetables, use of right type of fat and whole grain cereals like wheat or rice or millets instead of polished or refined flour, which is very high in carbohydrate (and thus glycemic load) and also low in protein and fibre.
