Prediabetes, Borderline High Blood Pressure or Cholesterol - What Would You Do?

Jul 06, 2026

Prediabetes, borderline high blood pressure, borderline high cholesterol

What would you do if you were told you have prediabetes, or that your blood pressure or cholesterol is borderline high?

Now ask yourself a second question. What would you do if your son came home and told you he got a borderline pass in his recent exams?

Your response should be the same for both.

About This Video

In this short video, I compare how we respond to our children's borderline exam results with how we respond to our own borderline blood sugar, blood pressure or cholesterol readings. I explain why complacency is the wrong response to a borderline health result, and what taking it seriously, as early as possible, actually looks like.

Let's Call Him Ben

Ben is not a real patient. I created him as a composite. But his story is completely typical of what I see and hear from my patients.

A few years ago, Ben's health screening came back with blood sugar just under the cutoff for diabetes. Borderline. Not diabetes yet. His doctor mentioned it briefly, told him to watch his diet, and exercise more and to come back in a few months to repeat the diabetes screening test again. But Ben didn't do either, he didn't make any meaningful effort to change or improve his diet nor exercised more. His main emotional response to his borderline health report was one of relief, but yet he wasn't concerned enough to take any action to improve his lifestyle and diet to reverse his condition.

Would You Accept a Borderline Pass From Your Son?

If your son came home with a borderline pass, just barely scraping through, would you tell him to relax? Would you tell him to simply pray and hope the next exam turns out the same way, instead of encouraging him to work on improving his weak subjects and aim for a better results the next time?

And if your blood sugar, just like Ben's, was found to be borderline high, just missing the cutoff for diabetes diagnosis, would you be like Ben, be complacent and not take action?

Prediabetes, borderline high blood pressure, borderline high cholesterol should be a wake up call.

This is what makes borderline results so deceptive. A clear diagnosis, high blood sugar, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, tends to prompt action. A borderline result tends to prompt relief. It sounds like good news. Just missing the cutoff. Almost fine.

But borderline is not fine. It should be a wake up call. It is your body telling you that your current lifestyle and eating habits are already pushing you in the wrong direction, and that the only thing standing between you and a full diagnosis is time and continued neglect.

Don't miss the window to reverse your condition whilst it is still mild.

The Response That Actually Helps

If you find out that your blood sugar, blood pressure or cholesterol is borderline high, be concerned enough to take action. Start by identifying the areas of your lifestyle and eating habits that are contributing to your condition, then work to change and improve them. If you need help, work with your doctor or another healthcare professional focused on coaching lifestyle change to combat chronic disease.

Receive the news with neither complacency nor anxiety. Receive it with confident commitment to do what you can, as early as possible, to improve your lifestyle and eating habits and reverse your borderline condition before it becomes a full diagnosis.

Learning About Reversing Type 2 Diabetes

If you are borderline, prediabetic, or already have Type 2 diabetes, and are not yet equipped with the essential foundational knowledge about reversing it, I have a structured online learning programme that you might find very useful. You can find out more through the link below.

Find out more about the Reversing Type 2 Diabetes: Essential Basics - Structured Online Learning Programme Here

You may also want to read: What Is Prediabetes? A Call to Action

Let's encourage and support one another to take borderline results seriously, while there is still the most room to act. Let Habits Be Thy Medicine.

Full Transcript

The following is the full transcript of the video above.

What would you do if you were told you have pre-diabetes or that your blood pressure or cholesterol is borderline high? And what would you do if your son told you he got a borderline pass in his recent exams?

Your response should be the same, which is you should be concerned, and concerned enough to take action. Just as you would be concerned about your son's borderline pass at school, to offer him encouragement and support to identify his weak subjects and work at improving them, likewise, if you find out that your blood sugar, blood pressure, or blood cholesterol are borderline high, be concerned enough to take action, starting with identifying areas of your lifestyle and eating habits that are contributing to your condition and then work to change and improve them. If you need help, work with your doctor or other healthcare professionals who are focused on coaching people on lifestyle change to combat chronic diseases.

And just as you would not tell your son to be content with a borderline pass for his exams and simply pray and hope that it can remain so, that is to continue getting a borderline pass for the next exam without putting in any effort to improve, you should also not react to your borderline health report with only relief and complacency, and simply pray and hope that your next health screening would remain borderline, just missing the cutoff criteria for diabetes, hypertension, and high cholesterol, and being contented and complacent with that.

I'm Dr Chan. I train and coach people to improve their lifestyle to combat chronic diseases. I want to encourage you to take action to improve your lifestyle as early as possible. Take your borderline results as a wake up call. Receive that news with neither complacency nor anxiety, but with confident commitment to do what you can to improve your lifestyle and eating habits, to reverse and improve your borderline medical conditions.

You can do it. I'm Dr Chan. Let Your Habits Be Your Medicine. Eat Well, Live Well, and Be Well.

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About Dr Chan Tat Hon

Dr Chan graduated from the National University of Singapore medical school in 1992. For the last ten years, his work has focused on lifestyle medicine. He works with healthcare and corporate organisations to design and deliver lifestyle behaviour change programmes, train health coaches and build communities engaged in cultivating healthy behaviours to combat diseases.

He also provides training and coaching to individuals with diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, cardiovascular diseases and other lifestyle-related chronic diseases through 1-1 personalised coaching, live webinars, and online courses.

About Dr Chan, Founder & Medical Director of The Habits Pharmacy

Dr Chan is a medical doctor from Singapore who trains and coaches people to holistically review, change and improve their Lifestyle & Dietary Habits to prevent, control and combat Diabetes, Hypertension, High Cholesterol, Cardiovascular Diseases and other Lifestyle & Diet related chronic diseases. Find out more about Dr Chan, his work, 1-1 coaching programmes, workshops & courses, click on the Find out More button below.

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