Could this be you? Read on to find out the facts and what you can do to stay healthy. Prediabetes puts you at increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and stroke. You can have prediabetes for years but have no clear symptoms, so it often goes undetected until serious health problems show up.
Ready to find out your risk? Take the 1-minute prediabetes risk test and be sure to share the results with your doctor. Diabetes affects every major organ in the body.
People with diabetes often develop major complications , such as kidney failure, blindness, and nerve damage nerve damage can lead to amputation of a toe, foot, or leg. Some studies suggest that diabetes doubles the risk of depression, and that risk increases as more diabetes-related health problems develop.
All can sharply reduce quality of life. Think of prediabetes as a fork in the road: Ignore it, and your risk for type 2 diabetes goes up. Lose a modest amount of weight and get regular physical activity, and your risk goes down. Regular physical activity means getting at least minutes a week of brisk walking or similar activity. If your blood sugar level is above the normal range, your risk of developing full-blown diabetes is increased.
It's very important for diabetes to be diagnosed as early as possible because it will get progressively worse if left untreated. Visit your GP as soon as possible if you experience the main symptoms of diabetes, which include:.
Many people have type 2 diabetes for years without realising because the early symptoms tend to be general. The amount of sugar in the blood is controlled by a hormone called insulin, which is produced by the pancreas a gland behind the stomach.
When food is digested and enters your bloodstream, insulin moves glucose out of the blood and into cells, where it's broken down to produce energy. However, if you have diabetes, your body is unable to break down glucose into energy. This is because there's either not enough insulin to move the glucose, or the insulin produced does not work properly. You can help manage type 2 diabetes through healthy eating, regular exercise and achieving a healthy body weight. There is evidence, however, that the likelihood of developing the condition increases drastically after 45 years of age.
However, the development of the condition depends on too many other factors to accurately predict on an individual basis.
A broad mix of health and lifestyle factors can influence the progression of the condition. Many people have diabetes for years without being aware they have the condition. This causes a wide variation between the age of onset and age of diagnosis.
Some estimates claim that one in four people with diabetes do not know they have it. Also, many national surveys and studies do not distinguish between rates of type 1 and type 2 diabetes in adults. According to the Centers for Disease Control CDC , adults between 45 and 64 years of age receive the majority of new diabetes diagnoses in the U.
The National Diabetes Statistics Report estimates that Elsewhere, a study found that the rates of type 2 diabetes were up to seven times higher in Chinese adults from 55 to 74 years old than they were in to year-olds. Similarly, the ADA report that rates of diabetes remain high in the elderly population, impacting around In the U. The average age at which children receive a diagnosis is 14 years.
Differences between the chances of developing type 2 diabetes and the age of diagnosis may also depend on sex and race or ethnic background. The CDC note that from to , doctors diagnosed American men roughly 2 years earlier than women, and African Americans and Hispanics around 6 years earlier than white people. The ADA also note that diabetes impacts people of some races or ethnic backgrounds far more than others.
Lifestyle factors, such as diet and physical activity levels, may be among the reasons for higher prevalence rates, but the research is still inconclusive. Current rates of people in the U. Learn more about the risk factors for all types of diabetes here. The symptoms of type 2 diabetes, such as increased thirst, hunger, and fatigue , do not often present until complications develop.
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