Pre-Diabetes
is Treatable and Billable!
At
the recent AACE Meeting in Chicago last week, Dr. Ratner, MD, FACE
and principal investigator for the DPP stated that we can prevent
or delay the development of Type 2 diabetes.
Because
of the Diabetes
Prevention Program, there is now a ICD-9 code (277.7) that will
allow you to bill for Pre-Diabetes and even the IRS has come on
board and will allow you to deduct programs to reduce obesity and
insulin resistance on your income taxes.
For
each one of the 16 million Americans who have Type II diabetes,
there's another one at risk of joining their ranks, the government
said today.
"Pre-diabetes," which is a new term to describe an
elevated but not technically diabetic blood sugar reading, is not
only a stepping stone to full-blown diabetes, it also increases
the risk of heart attacks, strokes and heart disease by 50
percent. New government figures released today estimate that 16
million Americans over the age of 40 are pre-diabetic.
"The good news is if you have pre-diabetes, you can do
something about it," said Tommy Thompson, Secretary of Health
and Human Services (HHS), in a statement today. "We want
people to know that pre-diabetes is a serious condition that can
be reversed or alleviated with modest changes in their daily
routines -- such as eating fewer calories and walking regularly
for exercise."
The number of people with either form of diabetes -- Type I or,
more commonly, Type II -- has reached 17 million, an 8 percent
increase over earlier estimates, Thompson said. Of those, 5.9
million don't know they have the disease.
At least 90 percent of American diabetics have Type II, or
adult-onset, form, which is closely linked to obesity. As the
number of overweight Americans has climbed sharply in recent
decades, so, too, has the number of diabetics.
People with pre-diabetes generally develop full diabetes within a
decade of showing abnormal blood glucose. If unchecked, diabetes
can cause blindness, kidney failure, heart attacks, strokes, and a
laundry list of other serious complications. Its toll: 180,000
deaths a year, many of which are preventable.
HHS, the American Diabetes Association, and other diabetes experts
announced the new data at a press conference where they issued new
guidelines for doctors to stave off the progression of the
disease.
Chief among these is routine screening for pre-diabetes for all
overweight people who are over age 45, either with a fasting blood
glucose test or the oral glucose tolerance test. The tests measure
how well a person's body is processing blood sugar, and reflect
sensitivity to the hormone insulin. Insulin helps cells convert
glucose into energy.
The guidelines also call on doctors to screen for pre-diabetes in
seriously overweight people under 45 if they have the following
risk factors: a family history of diabetes, high blood pressure,
and abnormal blood fats. Women with a history of
pregnancy-related, or gestational, diabetes, and those who
delivered a baby nine pounds or heavier, are also considered at
risk, as are members of racial minority groups, including Latinos,
African Americans, American Indians, Asian Americans and Pacific
Islanders.
"This new recommendation gives physicians added incentive to
screen their middle-aged, overweight patients for both Type II
diabetes and pre-diabetes," Dr. Francine Kaufman,
president-elect of the American Diabetes Association, said in a
statement. "If you have pre-diabetes, you need to know it, so
you can learn about the high risk of getting diabetes and the
steps you can take to prevent it. If you already have diabetes,
you need to be treated early to prevent complications."
Dr. Frank Hu, a Harvard University nutrition expert, said the
concept of pre-diabetes "is important, in that pre-diabetes,
if not intervened, can be easily changed to diabetes."
Studies show "very clearly," he added, that people on
the brink of diabetes can be brought back into sound health
through diet, regular exercise, and other lifestyle changes.
Diet and exercise alterations that lead to a 5 percent to 7
percent drop in weight can cut the risk of Type II diabetes by
almost 60 percent, health officials said.
