Key points
- Certain factors increase your risk for prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.
- Type 2 diabetes is common, is serious, and with lifestyle changes can be prevented or delayed.
- The National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP) lifestyle change program can help.
What are prediabetes and diabetes?
Having prediabetes means your blood glucose (sugar) levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Prediabetes can lead to heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes. Prediabetes can often be reversed.
In the United States, more than 2 in 5 adults has prediabetes, and 8 in 10 of them don't know they have it. Without taking action, many people with prediabetes could develop type 2 diabetes within 5 years.
With type 2 diabetes, your body can't effectively use insulin (a hormone that helps glucose get into the cells of the body). You can get type 2 diabetes at any age, but certain factors increase your risk.
Prevention
If you have prediabetes, the National DPP lifestyle change program is one of the most effective ways to prevent type 2 diabetes. In the program, you'll learn skills to help you lose weight, become more active, and improve your overall health.
Type 2 diabetes has serious consequences
Diabetes increases the risk of serious health problems, including:
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Blindness
- Kidney failure
- Loss of toes, feet, or legs
Diabetes is costly
Diabetes is the most costly health condition in the United States, accounting for 25% of all health care spending and costing $640 billion in 2021.
- Albright A, Gregg EW. Preventing type 2 diabetes in communities across the US: the National Diabetes Prevention Program. Am J Prev Med 2013;44(4):S346-S351. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4539613/
- Boyle JP, Thompson TJ, Gregg EW, Barker LE, Williamson DF. (2010). Projection of the year 2050 burden of diabetes in the US adult population: dynamic modeling of incidence, mortality, and prediabetes prevalence. Popul Health Metr. 2010;8:29. http://www.pophealthmetrics.com/content/8/1/29.
- Knowler WC, Barrett-Conner E, Fowler SE, et al. Reduction in the incidence of type 2 diabetes with lifestyle intervention or metformin. N Engl J Med 2002;346:393–403. https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa012512#t=articleTop.