Numbers of people at risk of diabetes grows in the USA

Main Category: Diabetes
Article Date: 16 May 2004 - 0:00 PDT

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A surprising 41 million Americans have pre- diabetes, high enough blood sugar to dramatically increase their risk of getting the disease, say new government figures that double previous estimates.

The number leaped because doctors have changed the criteria for diagnosing pre-diabetes after research showed that they were missing too many at-risk patients.

"These latest numbers show how urgent the problem really is," said Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, who announced this new data at a federal health meeting in Baltimore.

The good news is that modest diet and exercise can delay, if not prevent, the onset of diabetes in many pre-diabetics.

But "most of these people have no idea" they're at risk, said Dr. Francine Kaufman, past president of the American Diabetes Association.

Some 18 million Americans have full-blown diabetes, a leading cause of blindness, kidney failure, amputations and heart disease that claims 180,000 U.S. lives a year.

Some people are born with it, but the vast majority have Type 2 diabetes, an illness that develops, often in middle age, when their bodies lose the ability to turn blood sugar into energy.

Source: http://www.diabetesnews.com