National American Diabetes Association Alert Day is observed annually on the fourth Tuesday in March. Tomorrow is a one-day “wake-up call” to inform the American public about the seriousness of diabetes and encourages all to take the diabetes risk test and learn about your family’s history of diabetes.
Diabetes affects about 30.3 million Americans or about 9.4 percent of the U.S. population. Another 84 million Americans have prediabetes, a condition in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes. Nine out of 10 adults with prediabetes don’t know they have it.
The sooner you know you’re at risk, the sooner you can take steps to prevent or manage diabetes. If you have a family history of diabetes, you have a greater chance of developing type 2 diabetes. You are also more likely to develop type 2 diabetes if you are over age 45, are overweight, or are not physically active.
Take the Diabetes Risk Test online