9 out of 10 people with prediabetes don’t know they have it

More than 84 million people have prediabetes according to The Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

This means a person’s blood glucose level is higher than normal, but not high enough yet for a diagnosis of type 2 diabetes.

“9 out of 10 people don’t even know that they have prediabetes,” said Madison Memorial Hospital’s diabetic educator, Jacie Butikofer.

According to the CDC, one in three American adults has prediabetes and without weight loss and physical activity, 15-30 percent of those people will develop type 2 diabetes within 5 years.

“It’s going to affect everything from your brain to your feet,” said Madison Memorial Hospital’s outpatient dietitian, Susan Clark.

Prevention is key to living a healthy life, and the Madison Memorial Hospital in Rexburg is making it easier to get your health back on track by offering a yearlong prevent type 2 diabetes program to help you make those important changes.

“Most of us know what we’re supposed to do to be healthy, it’s just hard to do it. It’s hard to get in the exercise with our busy lives, it’s hard to plan healthy meals, but when you get ideas from other people, sometimes it just seems easier,” Clark said.

People who participate in the structured lifestyle change program can cut their risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 58% according to the CDC.

“If you’re diagnosed with diabetes, you can control it, you can work hard to keep your blood sugar at a normal level. It’s not a death sentence if you get diagnosed with type two diabetes, but if you can prevent it why not,” Clark said.

Preventing any disease early on if possible, can not only help your health but also your bank account and time, by not having to spend hours and money visiting the doctor.

“What we’d like people to take away from this program is to be able to feel like they have some control over their health and to walk away from it feel confident that they can make healthy changes in their life that will give them the opportunity to live their life to the fullest without risk of developing complications,” Butikofer said.

The year-long program costs $199 for the year, which comes out to about $8 per class.

For the CDC’s online prediabetes risk test, click here.

For more information about the program at Madison Memorial Hospital, call Susan at (208) 359-6522 or Jacie at (208) 359-6524.