WASHINGTON — A surprising 41 million Americans have pre-diabetes, high enough blood sugar to dramatically increase their risk of getting the disease, according to 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 will announce the new data at a health meeting in Baltimore today.
"We need to help Americans take steps to prevent diabetes or we will risk being overwhelmed by the health and economic consequences of an ever-growing diabetes epidemic."
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.
Who should be tested for pre-diabetes? The ADA says:
If the test diagnoses pre-diabetes, there are proven ways to lower the risk of full-blown illness, said CDC diabetes chief Dr. Frank Vinicor. These include walking 30 minutes a day five days a week, and losing 5 percent to 7 percent of body weight.
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