Early warning on diabetes

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From the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, I’m Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat.

Diabetes can sneak up on you. It happens through pre-diabetes, when your blood sugar is elevated, but not high enough for a doctor to call it a sign of diabetes. That’s why a blood test is important. It can diagnose pre-diabetes, and give you time to do something to head off diabetes.

If you’re overweight or obese, the something can be losing weight.

At the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, Dr. Judith Fradkin says you don’t have to drop to your ideal body weight to dramatically reduce your risk of moving from pre-diabetes to diabetes.

[Dr. Judith Fradkin speaks] "Even losing an average of 15 pounds makes a huge difference in developing type 2 diabetes."

That’s where proper eating and more physical activity can help.

Learn more at hhs.gov

HHS HealthBeat is a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. I’m Ira Dreyfuss.

Last revised: July, 15 2009

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