Nearly 26 million Americans have diabetes, according to new estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In addition, an estimated 79 million U.S. adults have prediabetes, a condition in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.
Prediabetes raises a person's risk of type 2 diabetes, heart disease and stroke. Diabetes affects 8.3 percent of Americans of all ages, and 11.3 percent of adults aged 20 and older, according to the National Diabetes Fact Sheet for 2011. Diabetes is the seventh leading cause of death in the United States. People with diabetes are more likely to suffer from complications such as heart attack, stroke, high blood pressure, kidney failure, blindness and amputations of feet and legs.
Registered nurse and certified diabetes educator, Linda Kerr, RN explains how prediabetes differs from diabetes, the signs and symptoms that will show if you are at risk, as well as if your diet and exercise can prevent the disease.
