YOU HAVE BEEN CHALLENGED TO GET FIT !

You Can Protect Your Kids

The National Diabetes Education Program (NDEP) can help you keep diabetes from being a family affair

By Kalia Doner

Diabetes Focus Summer 2009

Judith Fradkin, M.D., is a member of the NDEP executive committee and director of the Division of Diabetes, Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases at the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). She is leading the charge to stop diabetes from damaging adults’ and children’s health.

How widespread is the risk of diabetes?

We know that nationally 57 million people have prediabetes, and many of these individuals are not aware of it. We want to identify people with prediabetes and to actively work to prevent it from turning into full-blown type 2 diabetes. Clinical trials have shown that modest changes in weight and activity can dramatically reduce diabetes risk. We call this “Small Steps. Big Rewards.”

How do people know if they are at risk for prediabetes?

The first thing is to find out if there is a history of diabetes in your family. Women are at increased risk if they have had gestational diabetes or a baby weighing nine pounds or more. Some ethnic minorities, such as American Indians, African Americans, Latinos and Hispanics, are at increased risk, as are people who are obese or sedentary or have high blood pressure.

What is prediabetes?

Prediabetes is characterized by blood glucose levels that are higher than normal but lower than levels that indicate diabetes. A person has prediabetes when glucose levels run consistently between 100 and 120.

Is prediabetes increasing?

Yes, and there are a couple of reasons for that. First, the population is getting older overall, and we know that about 20 percent of all older folks get diabetes. Second, we are becoming an ever more sedentary society that doesn’t always eat properly.

Does prediabetes carry any of its own risks or complications?

Absolutely. Prediabetes is often accompanied by high blood pressure and unhealthy lipid levels. People with prediabetes are at increased risk for cardiovascular disease, although that risk is not as high as for those with diabetes. And some people with prediabetes start to develop changes in the eye that are signs of early retinopathy. So prediabetes is serious and risky too.

What percentage of people who have prediabetes convert to full-blown type 2 diabetes?

In a study called the Diabetes Prevention Program, 11 percent of those with prediabetes developed type 2 each year. People with prediabetes who lost about 15 pounds reduced the risk of diabetes by more than half, and some even reversed prediabetes and returned to normal glucose levels.

What about the phenomenon of children developing type 2?

Now, what used to be a disease of adults is affecting teens after puberty. But if they get diagnosed early and establish good glucose control, they can reap long-term benefits not only from developing good health habits for the rest of their lives but also because the body has a “metabolic memory” that keeps it on track when good habits are established early on.

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