Introduction

Prediabetes is a condition that raises the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and eye disease.

About 54 million individuals in the United States aged 21 and older have prediabetes, nearly 12 million of whom are overweight and between the ages of 45 and 74. In addition to the nearly 21 million individuals in the United States currently diagnosed with diabetes, the estimated number of diagnosed cases of diabetes will increase in the United States by 198% in the next 50 years—with the largest increase occurring among African Americans, American Indians, and Hispanic/Latino Americans.

People with prediabetes have impaired fasting glucose (IFG), impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), or both—conditions where blood glucose levels are higher than normal but not high enough to be classified as diabetes. The natural history of prediabetes (both IGT and IFG) indicates that about 25% of persons with prediabetes progress to diabetes within three to five years.

With longer observation, the majority of individuals with IFG or IGT go on to develop diabetes within about 10 years, unless they lose weight through moderate changes in diet and physical activity. Over the course of a lifetime, as many as 83% of persons with prediabetes (IGT) who neither lose weight nor engage in moderate physical activity will develop diabetes. Over the course of a lifetime, approximately 65% of persons with prediabetes who lose weight and engage in moderate physical activity will go on to develop diabetes.

Progression to diabetes among those with prediabetes is not inevitable. Studies show that people with prediabetes who lose at least 7% of their body weight and engage in moderate physical activity at least 150 minutes per week can prevent or delay diabetes and even return their blood glucose levels to normal.