Condition scary but treatable
Prediabetes threatens many Americans; treatment is simple.
Date published: 2/27/2005
MORE THAN 40 PERCENT of middle-aged and older Americans have a problem that can cause long-term damage to the heart and blood vessels, and most don't know they have it.
The problem is being found even in children: Physicians at Yale have found that 25 percent of obese kids have prediabetes.
Prediabetes is poorly controlled blood sugar that is not abnormal enough to be considered diabetes. If not treated with lifestyle changes, most people with prediabetes will develop full-blown Type 2 diabetes within 10 years.
That's a problem because diabetes' complications can include heart attack, stroke, blindness, kidney failure, amputations and erectile dysfunction. Even prediabetes raises the risk of heart disease by 150 percent and can cause nerve pain.
However, these complications can be avoided, and people can live long, healthy lives, if they treat their diabetes or prediabetes.
"For some people with prediabetes, intervening early can actually turn back the clock and return elevated blood glucose levels to the normal range," according to the American Diabetes Association.
Many people at risk
Everyone who is 45 or older should have a blood test for diabetes at a doctor's office, according to the National Institutes of Health.
Younger people should have a blood test if they are overweight and have one or more of the following risk factors: exercise less than three times a week; ethnicity not Caucasian; a parent or sibling with diabetes; history of gestational (pregnancy) diabetes or had a baby weighing more than 9 pounds; high blood pressure; HDL or "good" cholesterol less than 40 for men or less than 50 for women; high trigylcerides; polycystic ovarian syndrome; or history of heart or circulation problems.
Blood tests for diabetes include a fasting blood sugar test, in which blood is drawn in the morning before breakfast; and the oral glucose tolerance test, which involves drinking a special sugary drink before the blood test.
If your test is normal, you need to be rechecked every three years, according to the American Diabetes Association.
If your test shows prediabetes, you should be checked for Type 2 diabetes every year or two, and you can take action to prevent diabetes from developing.
Trio of prevention tips
Studies prove that three changes can help:
Moderate exercise, such as walking for at least 30 minutes, five days a week, is essential.
Date published: 2/27/2005
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