Pharmacist shares five red flag signs that could mean you have serious condition

A pharmacist has highlighted five warning signs of serious health issues as global obesity and prediabetes cases show a significant surge.

The number of overweight individuals globally has tipped over one billion, while prediabetes statistics are also skyrocketing - now impacting more than 15 million Brits.

This staggering trend signifies that many individuals need to take steps towards leading healthier lives, warns one expert.

Graham Phillips, whose career as a pharmacist spans over three decades, is the brains behind ProLongevity - a brainchild of his push for a greater emphasis on healthy living rather than medicinal dependencies.

His disapproval of the medication-dependent state of many of his patients, whom he saw gaining weight and remaining in poor health despite drug treatments, led him down this path.

ProLongevity took birth out of this frustration and since then, it has been an aide to many in losing weight, reversing prediabetes, and stopping type 2 diabetes right in its tracks.

It works by monitoring individual blood sugar spikes to outline necessary lifestyle and dietary shifts, reports Bristol Live.

The expert is now appealing to people to pay heed to five red flags pointing towards a potential risk of diabetes and a need for a revamped diet selection.

Waist-to-height ratio

Ditch the old school Body Mass Index (BMI) measurements and focus more on your waist-to-height ratio, advises Graham. He states: "If your waist circumference is more than half your height, you could be at risk of diabetes."

Overweight yet hungry all the time

The expert said: "When insulin levels are high, your body effectively locks away fat stores, making it difficult to access them. This can lead to a situation where individuals gain ever more weight while simultaneously feeling hungrier than ever before."

Acanthosis and/or skin tags

Skin conditions like acanthosis (darkened skin patches) and even skin tags are indicative of underlying metabolic issues.

Symptoms of Metabolic Syndrome

Signs like even slightly raised blood pressure, elevated blood sugar levels, excess body fat, especially around the waist, and abnormal cholesterol levels, shouldn't be ignored. Metabolic syndrome increases the risk of diabetes and predicts a 10-year reduction in life expectancy.

Getting angry when you're hungry

"Hangry" outbursts may signal "rollercoaster" blood sugar levels, resulting from an imbalanced diet that leaves people feeling hungry, tired, and irritable.

Graham has highlighted the importance of taking note of these warning signs and taking proactive steps toward a healthier lifestyle, saying: "Spotting these warning signs early and acting upon them NOW can make a significant difference in halting diabetes in its tracks and extending overall life expectancy."

"In terms of overall health, what actually matters isn't how you look on the outside, it's about what's going on inside your body. This is absolutely unique to each individual and is exactly the basis on which we should provide diet and lifestyle advice. At ProLongevity, we monitor and analyse an individual's sugar spikes to be able to provide 'precision nutrition' advice, reverse pre-diabetes and restore metabolic health."

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