It is a little scary to realize that over five million people in the US have undiagnosed diabetes. Add that to the approximately seventeen million that have diabetes, and you have an epidemic of massive proportions.

But, it gets even worse. Another sixteen million have “pre-diabetes,” according to Tommy G. Thompson, Health and Human Services Secretary. He went on to recommend that screening start as soon as possible for overweight people.

Why? Well, it is estimated that this is costing the US economy $100 billion every year. Somebody is obviously making a good buck on this, but do you want to help line their pockets?

You can stop doing that by taking some pretty simple steps to avoid progressing to full-blown diabetes. Of course, it will take a radical change in how you look at yourself, and your lifestyle.

How do you find out?

First, though, how do you find out if your are pre-diabetic? It is pretty simple, really. The most reliable way is a fasting blood glucose test. Glucose is sugar in the blood, and it is the energy source for all the cells of the body. That level should not be too high or too low, or problems will result.

Anyone who is overweight (which means a body mass index of 25 or more) and over 43 should be screened. Even those with no symptoms should be tested. If things look good, the recommendations say the test should be repeated every three years. That would assume that there has been no weight loss or increase in exercise.