As state health officials strive to make Iowa the nation’s healthiest state, a new study finds more than half of all Americans are either diabetic or pre-diabetic. Dr. ViJay Shivaswamy, an endocrinologist in Omaha-Council Bluffs, says 14-percent of study participants had the disease while another 38-percent were growing dangerously close. What does it mean to be pre-diabetic?

“Blood sugar numbers are not normal but it’s not high enough to be called diabetes,” Dr. Shivaswamy says. “It’s also a state where you are at risk for developing diabetes. If you don’t intervene at this point, then you have a very high likelihood of getting diabetes.” Heredity does play a role in developing diabetes but taking steps can help prevent further complications. Of the people surveyed who were deemed pre-diabetic, more than a third of them had not been diagnosed. He says people in that pre-diabetic category need to take action so it doesn’t escalate.

“You can exercise or do the nutrition but if you don’t actually get the weight loss, you don’t get the benefit of preventing diabetes,” Shivaswamy says. “It’s very important to, at least in the first six months to a year, target for 7% weight loss and increase your activity to at least target 150 minutes a week or 30 minutes a day.” Shivaswamy works at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

(Radio Iowa)