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Diabetes Signs Start Sooner
Than Expected
Study shows
that complications can occur even with “Pre-Diabetes
September
18, 2000 -- New research shows that patients with diabetes had
signs of early disease -- such as kidney problems, lower limb
problems and loss of sight -- 10 to 13 years before they were
diagnosed.
Doctors and
other health professionals have been urged to step up their
efforts to identify and treat diabetes in the wake of a new study,
details of which have been released at the European Association
for the Study of Diabetes.
The UK
Diabetes Informational Analysis and Benchmarking Service (UKDIABS)
was carried out between 1996 and 2000 and looked at more than
155,000 patient records from across the UK.
Researchers
found entries in medical records of patients who eventually
developed diabetes, suggesting early signs of the disease. Eye
complications were identified in 33 per cent of the records; foot
complications in 24 per cent and cardiovascular complications in
24 per cent of the patients diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.
"This
research has major implications for health care professionals
treating people with diabetes," said Moira Murphy, MD, director of
research at Diabetes, UK, the charity that funded the research.
"The progress of life-threatening complications like kidney
disease could be slowed down dramatically if people were treated
for diabetes early enough."
"There are
also implications for health spending in the UK and elsewhere,"
she added.
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FACT:
An estimated
1 million U.S. workers are absent on an average workday because of
stress-related complaints
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