A study from the Netherlands say that almost half of 45-year-olds will develop an elevated blood sugar level that often precedes diabetes. Prediabetes or impaired glucose metabolism has no clear symptoms, but people with higher than normal blood sugar based on a blood test should be tested for diabetes every one or two years, according to the American Diabetes Association. "We have known this from previous studies - but what this study adds is a method of communicating risk in a better way - a person's lifetime risk of developing diabetes," said Dr Kamlesh Khunti of Leicester General Hospital in the UK.
One in three healthy 45-year-olds will develop diabetes in their lifetime, Khunti said. Researchers from Erasmus University Medical Centre and the Harvard School of Public Health followed people for about 15 years, categorizing their blood sugar levels according to WHO standards. Blood sugar levels of 6 millimoles per litre or less are considered normal. Levels above 6mmolL and below 7mmolL are considered prediabetic, and levels of 7mmolL or greater are diabetes.
In their 15 -year study, a total of 1,148 people developed elevated blood sugar levels, 828 developed diabetes and 237 started taking insulin to control their diabetes. The team translated these results into population risk levels at age 45, and found that about half of them would develop prediabetic blood sugar levels before their death, 30% would develop full-blown diabetes and nine per cent would start taking insulin. About three-quarters of those with elevated blood sugar at age 45 would develop diabetes, and half of those who already had diabetes would start taking insulin. Higher body mass index or waist circumference increased these risks.
"People should know their risk and if they are at higher risk, then they should have a more intensive method of reducing future diabetes risk," Khunti said.
