The figures are staggering: 17 million Americans have diabetes and 16 million more may have pre-diabetes, a new name for “impaired glucose tolerance,” which is an early indicator of developing diabetes. Those who have pre-diabetes probably don’t experience any symptoms, but their blood glucose levels are higher than normal. If nothing is done to reduce these levels, diabetes will most likely develop within 10 years. Diabetes is associated with increased risk of heart disease, including heart attack and stroke, as well as complications that can lead to blindness, kidney failure, and limb amputations. Now, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the American Diabetes Association (ADA) are encouraging people to be tested for this pre-diabetic condition.

A simple blood glucose test that can be done at a regular doctor’s office visit is all that’s needed. The test can be done in two ways: a fasting plasma glucose test, which looks at the level of glucose in the blood after the patient fasts for 8 hours, or an oral glucose tolerance test, which measures the blood glucose level two hours after the patient drinks a solution with a fixed amount of sugar in it.

As part of this new educational campaign, guidelines from an expert panel at HHS and ADA were released. They recommend: 

 

• Testing everyone 45 years of age and older, especially if overweight; 
• Testing younger adults if they have risk factors, such as obesity, low HDL (or “good”) cholesterol and high triglycerides, high blood pressure, family history of diabetes, history of diabetes developed during pregnancy, or belong to a racial minority group at increased risk for type 2 diabetes; 
• Repeat testing every 3 years if the test results are normal; and 
• For those with a high glucose test result, encouraging preventive measures, such as walking 30 minutes/day, 5 days/week and losing weight, which can significantly reduce the risk.

The panel is hopeful that physicians and patients will heed this warning and take advantage of the easy steps available to prevent the disease: a simple blood test to determine risk of developing diabetes and lifestyle changes that can be made to reduce that risk.

The complete guidelines will be published in April’s issue of Diabetes Care.