Prediabetes May Raise Heart Deaths
Study: Prediabetes May More Than Double Adults' Odds of Dying From Heart Disease
June 18, 2007 -- Adults with prediabetes may be more than twice as likely to die of heart disease as people without blood sugar (glucose) problems.
That's according to a new study from Australia.
Based on the findings, the researchers recommend boosting heart health in anyone with blood sugar problems, even if those problems are too mild to qualify as diabetes.
The study appears online in the rapid access edition of the journal Circulation. The researchers included Elizabeth Barr, MPH, of the International Diabetes Institute in Caulfield, Australia.
Barr's team doesn't give specific advice, but doctors can make recommendations to patients. Those tips may include losing extra weight, boosting physical activity, and getting good medical care.
About Diabetes and Prediabetes
In type 2 diabetes, the most common type of diabetes in adults, the body doesn't make or respond to insulin properly. Type 2 diabetes makes heart disease and other health problems more likely.
In prediabetes, the body has started having problems handling blood sugar, but those problems haven't yet become diabetes.
According to the National Diabetes Information Clearinghouse, nearly 21 million people in the U.S. have diabetes, and 90% to 95% of them have type 2 diabetes; 54 million more people have prediabetes.
Many people don't know they have diabetes or prediabetes.
Symptoms of type 2 diabetes may include fatigue, frequent urination, increased thirst or hunger, weight loss, blurred vision, and slow healing of wounds or sores. Some people with prediabetes may have those symptoms, but most people with prediabetes don't have symptoms.