New Study Reveals Major Faults in Diabetes Screening

A new study recently released by the University of Wisconsin Health cited that variances between the two major diabetes screening standards cause up to 1/3 of the diabetics seen fly under the radar and not be detected.  The two commonly accepted guidelines are from the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and by the US Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF).  ”According to the study’s lead author Dr. Ann Sheehy, a hospitalist and clinical assistant professor at the School of Medicine and Public Health, use of USPSTF guidelines resulted in 460 fewer diagnoses of diabetes or greater than one-third of all cases detected, compared to screening criteria recommended by the ADA.”

What does this mean to you?  Ask your doctor how he judges whether or not to test you for diabetes, by the USPSTF guidlines or by the ADA’s.  Also, have anyone you care about ask their doctor the same thing.  Why?  “I saw patients with random glucose levels of 220 or higher, but they didn’t carry a diagnosis of diabetes,” she (Dr. Sheehy) said.  “One in 20 people in the U.S. has undiagnosed diabetes. We wanted to know, why is that?  Are providers not capturing the right guidelines?”  This is serious stuff.  You can read the press release for this article at DiabetesHealth.com or see the online abstract of the article here at the Mayo Clinic Proceedings website.

A cure for diabetes will be found in our lifetime we just have to show up with our legs and vital organs.  Do your part to help yourself and others cross that line and be proactive.

Yours in health,

J