Thursday, July 24, 2008

Twofold Action Urged for Pre-Diabete

Goal Is To Prevent Progression To The Full-Blown Disease And Its Huge Costs

“Lifestyle changes, coupled with a reduction in heart disease risks, will go a long way toward preventing pre-diabetes from progressing to the full-blown disease, experts from the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE) recommend. Pre-diabetes occurs when blood sugar levels or impaired glucose tolerance is elevated, but not quite to the point defined as diabetes. More than 56 million Americans currently suffer from pre-diabetes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. ‘Diabetes has become the major problem in the United States,’ Dr. Harold Lebovitz, a professor of medicine at the division of endocrinology and metabolism/diabetes at the State University of New York Health Sciences Center at Brooklyn, said during a noon teleconference Wednesday. The AACE is pressing for aggressive action to keep pre-diabetes from progressing to full-blown diabetes. The first step involves lifestyle changes, such as diet and exercise. ‘It will cost a lot of money to develop lifestyle programs, but in the long run we will save trillions of dollars in health care,’ Lebovitz said.”

http://www.healthday.com/Article.asp?AID=617738

No comments: