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One-Third of Adults with Diabetes Still Don't Know They
Have It
In a new analysis of national survey data, researchers find that the prevalence
of diagnosed diabetes in U.S. adults has risen from about 5.1% in the years 1988-1994
to 6.5% in 1999-2002. The percentage with undiagnosed diabetes, however, didn't
change significantly. About 2.8% of U.S. adults — about a third of those with diabetes — still
don't know they have it.
Diabetes is a group of diseases marked by high levels of blood glucose. It's
the most common cause of blindness, kidney failure and amputations in adults
and a major cause of heart disease and stroke.
Researchers at NIH and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
analyzed data from a national sample of U.S. adults age 20 years and older who
took part in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Participants
were interviewed in their homes and given a physical exam with a blood test,
including a glucose reading taken after an overnight fast.
The study, published in the June 2006 issue of Diabetes Care, also
found that about 26% of adults continued to have impaired fasting glucose, a
form of pre-diabetes. People with pre-diabetes can often prevent or delay type
2 diabetes, the most common form of the disease, if they lose a modest amount
of weight by cutting calories in their diet and increasing their physical activity.
A major study of people with pre-diabetes showed that lifestyle changes leading
to a 5-7% weight loss lowered diabetes onset by 58%.
"It's important to know if you have pre-diabetes or undiagnosed type 2 diabetes," said
Dr. Larry Blonde, chair of the National Diabetes Education Program, which is
jointly sponsored by the NIH, CDC, and 200 partner organizations. "You should
talk to your health care professional about your risk. If your blood glucose
is high but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes, losing weight and increasing
physical activity will greatly lower your risk of getting type 2 diabetes. If
you have diabetes, controlling your blood glucose, blood pressure, and cholesterol
will prevent or delay the complications of diabetes."
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