CDC, AMA Announce Joint Initiative to Tackle Prediabetes
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IPGGutenbergUKLtd/iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the American Medical Association announced a joint initiative on Thursday to tackle the growing problem of prediabetes and type 2 diabetes.
The initiative is titled Prevent Diabetes STAT: Screen, Test, Act – Today. “It’s time that the nation comes together to take immediate action to help prevent diabetes before it starts,” AMA President Robert Wah said. “Type 2 diabetes is one of our nation’s leading cause of suffering and death — with one out of three people at risk of developing the disease in their lifetime.”
Wah notes that the initiative is, in part, “about empowering patients to take control of their health.”
As part of the initiative, the CDC has put up a “Prediabetes Screening Test” online. It also urges patients to speak with their doctors about the risks of prediabetes. The final step, the agencies say, is finding a diabetes prevention program — a lifestyle change program to help prevent or delay type 2 diabetes — in your community. A list of some such programs is available online.
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