Centers for Disease Cont and Prevention

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (Nhanes): Ogtt: Trutol Administration Centers for Disease Cont and Prevention

Publisher Marketing: Because of the increasing occurrence of diabetes in younger ages, NHANES added this component to the examination protocol to reassess the prevalence of diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) in the U. S. population. Diabetes is a large, growing, and costly public health problem in the United States and disproportionately affects racial and ethnic minorities. About 17 million Americans have diabetes and more than 1 million new cases of diabetes are diagnosed each year. Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure, nontraumatic lower extremity amputation, and blindness in working-age adults, and an estimated $135 billion was spent on direct and indirect medical costs for diabetes in 2002. Alarmingly, type 2 diabetes (formerly considered an adult disease) is now being diagnosed in children and adolescents and there has been a large increase in diagnosed diabetes among adults less than 40 years of age. Persons with IGT are at high risk for developing diabetes. In addition, IGT is an important risk factor for a number of other adverse health conditions and mortality. IGT is defined on the basis of an abnormal oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). Persons without diabetes but with an OGTT 2-hour value of 140-199 mg/dl are considered to have IGT. Recent national and international randomized controlled trials have shown that diabetes can be delayed or prevented among persons with IGT. Furthermore, NHANES III data indicate a tremendous opportunity for the prevention of diabetes-more than 12 million persons aged 45-74 have prediabetes (defined as overweight persons with either IGT or impaired fasting glucose metabolism). These data also indicate that more than 50 percent of persons with prediabetes are detected only by IGT findings. As risk factors for diabetes, IGT, and prediabetes increase (e.g., physical inactivity, obesity, and aging), the prevalence of these conditions is also likely to increase.