Everywhere you look — from magazines to television talk shows — diabetes is in the news, and rightfully so, since the number of Americans diagnosed with diabetes continues to rise. Nearly 13 percent of American adults have diabetes. Almost one-third of adults have “pre-diabetes,” a condition in which blood sugar is higher than normal, but not yet in the diabetic range.

Are you at risk for developing type 2 diabetes? Ask yourself these questions:

• Am I age 45 or older?
• Is my blood pressure often over 135/80 mmHg?
• Am I overweight and do I have any of the following risk factors?
  
  – First-degree relative with diabetes
  
  – Exercise less than three times per week
  
  – History of disease of the blood vessels in the heart, brain or legs
  
  – Higher than normal blood glucose testing in the past
  
  – HDL cholesterol less than 35 mg/dl or triglyceride level over 250 mg/dL
  
  – Woman who had diabetes during pregnancy or gave birth to a baby weighing more than 9 pounds
  
  – Woman with polycystic ovary syndrome
  
  – Member of a high-risk ethnic group (African-American, Latino American, Asian-American, Pacific Islander, American Indian or Alaska Native)

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you are at risk of developing diabetes. Diabetes is the leading cause of blindness, kidney failure and amputations in adults and a major cause of heart disease and stroke.

Developing diabetes is not inevitable. Type 2 diabetes can be prevented.

Your doctor can screen for pre-diabetes with a simple blood test. If you find out that you do have pre-diabetes, you and your doctor can take action right away to make needed lifestyle changes that can prevent you from developing diabetes and its complications.