Here's the CNN version:
Diabetes screening guidelines
strengthened
All adults should be tested
by age 45
June 23, 1997
Web posted at: 11:55 p.m. EDT
From Medical Correspondent
Rhonda Rowland
ATLANTA (CNN) -- Of the estimated 16 million people in the
United States with diabetes, about half of them don't know they
have it.
In an effort to improve that situation, new recommendations have
been issued calling for changes in the way diabetes is detected and
diagnosed. The guidelines were developed by an international
panel of experts and have been endorsed by the National Institutes
of Health.
For the first time, all adults are being urged to undergo a blood test
for diabetes by age 45 and have additional tests every three years
thereafter. Previously, only people who doctors suspected might
have diabetes were screened.
"Potentially, there are 1 to 2 million people in the population who
could be diagnosed using this criteria," said Dr. Richard Eastman
of the NIH. "We think that many will be diagnosed, since it's a
relatively easy test to perform on routine blood work done in a
doctor's office."
There's another change being recommended in the arena of
diabetes screening. Previously, a blood sugar reading of 140 or
more would result in a diagnosis of diabetes. The new threshold is
126.
"The problem with the former cutoff of 140 is that by the time
people were diagnosed with diabetes, about 20 percent already
had complications," Eastman says. "We know that the risk goes up
sharply for those complications when the blood sugar gets to be
about 126."
Preventing complications is the impetus behind the new
recommendations. Early diagnosis of diabetes is the key to
preventing eye, heart, kidney and nerve damage that can be
caused by an untreated diabetic condition.
"It's really a pity when the first time we see someone who's
diagnosed as diabetic is when they're having their heart attack or
when they're having a hemorrhage into their eye," says Dr. Carol
Teutsch, a diabetes specialist.
Once a diagnosis is made, controlling blood sugar starts with diet
and exercise. Some people also will have to take insulin or
medications.
For those without diabetes, some studies suggest that exercise and
good nutrition may prevent people from developing the condition.
A large study now under way should provide a definitive answer in
three to four years. |
