PUBLIC HEALTH Figures reveal even more are at risk from diabetes

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Millions more Americans than previously thought have signs of what could later turn into diabetes, the government says.
Doubling previous figures, the government estimates that 41 million Americans have pre-diabetes -- blood sugar high enough to dramatically increase their risk of getting the full-blown disease.
The figures released Wednesday are significantly higher than previous estimates because doctors have changed the criteria for diagnosing the condition after research showed they were missing too many at-risk patients.
"These latest numbers show how urgent the problem really is," said Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, who was announcing the new estimates at a federal health meeting today in Baltimore.
'Epidemic'
"We need to help Americans take steps to prevent diabetes or we will risk being overwhelmed by the health and economic consequences of an ever-growing diabetes epidemic."
The good news is that modest diet and exercise can delay, if not prevent, the onset of diabetes in many pre-diabetics.
But "most of these people have no idea" they're at risk, said Dr. Francine Kaufman, past president of the American Diabetes Association.
Some 18 million Americans have full-blown diabetes, a leading cause of blindness, kidney failure, amputations and heart disease that claims 180,000 U.S. lives a year.
Some people are born with it, but the vast majority have Type 2 diabetes, an illness that develops, often in middle age, when their bodies lose the ability to turn blood sugar into energy. Obesity, an increasing problem in the United States, is associated with diabetes.
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