Americans remain at high risk for diabetes

• The days of being told you have a "touch of sugar" or that your blood sugar is just a little "borderline high" are over.
• This relaxed attitude has lead to serious consequences for many who assumed "Why worry if I'm not there yet."
• In an effort to get people to pay more attention, new lower cut-offs for pre-diabetes have been published in Diabetes Care.
• Pre-diabetes is a new term used to describe blood sugars which are elevated but not high enough to be diagnostic of diabetes.
• It is estimated that 16 million Americans over the age of 40 have this new diagnosis.
• Pre-diabetes is diagnosed when your fasting blood sugar falls between 100-126 mg/dl.
• The Bad News If untreated, a majority of those with pre-diabetes will develop diabetes within 10 years.
• Uncontrolled diabetes can cause blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, strokes and a laundry list of other serious complications.
• A more immediate concern is that pre-diabetes increases the risk of heart attacks, strokes and heart disease by 50 percent.
• Getting Tested Pre-diabetes can be diagnosed with either a fasting blood sugar test or an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) which is when blood sugars are measured two hours after drinking a glucose- (sugar) containing solution.
• Testing for diabetes and pre-diabetes is recommended at three-year intervals beginning at age 45.
• Having a yearly physical will allow your doctor to screen you for known risk factors and provide an opportunity to do important lab work which can detect problems in advance.
• You can cut your chances of getting diabetes by almost 60 percent just by changing your lifestyle.
• A healthy diet, regular exercise (30 minutes five times per week) and a modest weight loss of five to seven percent are the key elements for preventing diabetes and staying healthy.