Are you undiagnosed diabetic?

Half of adults with diabetes don’t even know it, according to the International Diabetes Foundation. It’s a growing problem affecting 415 million adults worldwide in 2015, expected to increase to around 642 million — or one in 10 adults overall — by 2040. While most diabetics are able to manage the disease, it can also be fatal. Five million people each year die from it.

With one in two diabetic adults undiagnosed, the myriad complications resulting from diabetes have become a significant factor in health care. Early screening is vital to modify the course of this disease and reduce risk of complications, such as blindness, cardiovascular disease, and kidney disease.

Type 1 diabetes is gestational, generally diagnosed in children and representing only 5 percent of all diabetes cases. Type 1 diabetics’ bodies can’t produce insulin.

The other 95 percent of diabetics are Type 2, but many didn’t have to be. Up to 70 percent of Type 2 cases can be prevented or delayed simply by adopting healthier lifestyles (good diet and regular exercise); the earlier in life, the better.

Consider these statistics from The International Diabetes Foundation and American Diabetes Association.

• With increasing levels of poor nutrition and physical inactivity among children, Type 2 diabetes in childhood has the potential to become a global public health issue leading to serious health outcomes.

• Twelve percent of total global expenditure on health, or $673 billion, is currently spent on adults with diabetes.

• More than a third of diabetic adults will develop or already have diabetic retinopathy, a complication which can lead to vision impairment and blindness.

• Common symptoms of diabetes include frequent urination, excessive thirst or hunger (despite sufficient calories), extreme fatigue, blurred vision, cuts or bruises which are slow to heal, tingling/pain/numbness in the hands or feet, and sometimes, unexplained weight loss.

• Doctors recommend avoiding common high-sugar foods. That includes beverages such as sodas, energy drinks, and sports drinks. Few realize how damaging those habits are; one can of soda is the equivalent of eating 10 spoonsful of sugar.

November is National Diabetes Month. Want to know your general risk level? Take the online risk assessment and learn more at Diabetes.org/are-you-at-risk/diabetes-risk-test. Of course that’s not conclusive; only a physician and appropriate glucose testing can diagnose or rule out diabetes.

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Sholeh Patrick is a columnist for the Hagadone News Network. Contact her at Sholeh@cdapress.com.