If your body mass index (BMI) is 25 or above, you should begin screening for prediabetes and diabetes every three years at age 35, rather than at age 40, according to an updated recommendation from the United States Preventive Services Task Force. It is hoped that screening these individuals at a younger age may detect more cases of prediabetes and diabetes earlier, thereby averting some of the disease's worst consequences. According to the CDC, approximately 13% of adults in the United States have diabetes, while another 34.5 percent have prediabetes.
Many people who have diabetes — around 21.4 percent — are unaware they have it. Diabetes was the seventh biggest cause of mortality in the United States of America in 2017. If left unchecked, it can result in a variety of catastrophic health consequences, including kidney failure, blindness, cardiovascular, and liver illness.
Typically, diabetes is detected through the measurement of blood sugar after an eight-hour fast or with the administration of a blood test for hemoglobin A1C. (it can be done any time of the day). If you are at a high risk of developing diabetes, your doctor may want to begin screening you at an earlier age, the advice states.
If you are diagnosed with prediabetes, lifestyle modifications such as a healthier diet, increased physical activity, and weight loss, as well as certain medications, may help prevent or delay the development of diabetes.
We are monitoring research.