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It's when blood sugar levels are rising, but disease can still be prevented, CDC says

THURSDAY, Nov. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Too many American adults are unaware of "pre-diabetes" and not enough take action to reduce their risk, according to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study released Thursday.

People with pre-diabetes -- a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be classified as diabetes -- are at increased risk for developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. But lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise can prevent or delay development of diabetes and its complications.

More than 25 percent of Americans have pre-diabetes but, in 2006, only 4 percent of adults had ever been told they had the condition, said the CDC researchers, who analyzed data on about 24,000 adults who took part in the 2006 U.S. National Health Interview Survey.

There are five conditions indicative of pre-diabetes -- pre-diabetes itself, impaired fasting glucose, impaired glucose tolerance, borderline diabetes, and high blood sugar. Of the 984 people in the study who'd been told they had pre-diabetes, 64.4 percent were told they had borderline diabetes, 38.3 percent were told they had high blood sugar, 33.7 percent were told they had pre-diabetes itself, 15.5 percent were told they had impaired glucose tolerance, and 15. 2 percent were told they had impaired fasting glucose. In addition, 43.3 percent were told they had two or more of the five conditions.

Rates of pre-diabetes increased with age, ranging from 2.7 percent among those ages 18 to 44 to 6 percent among those over age 65. Rates also increased with weight -- 2.3 percent among those with normal weight, 3.9 percent among those who were overweight, and 6.3 percent among those who were obese.

The study also found that pre-diabetes was more common among women (4.8 percent) than men (3.2 percen
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