[Richard157]

I want to consider a group we may rarely even think about. The undiagnosed diabetics who may never be diagnosed or else are misdiagnosed.

According to the National Institutes of Health the Prevalence of Diagnosed and Undiagnosed Diabetes in the United States, All Ages, 2007:
Total: 23.6 million people—7.8 percent of the population—have diabetes.

Diagnosed: 17.9 million people

Undiagnosed: 5.7 million people

That means 24% of the diabetics in the USA do not know they have diabetes. Many of them may never know. Approximately 1 of every four diabetics do not know what is wrong with them. For some of them it may be that they do not have insurance and cannot afford to pay the doctor bills. There may be other reasons too but I think about this a lot and I find it very depressing.

Any thoughts on this matter?

Richard

[foxl]

Tons. Too many. If a FBG is not enough ... and OGTT is considered by the ADA to be "unreliable," will HbA1c be enough to catch many more?

Having had hypos when I went HypoT, what? 16 years ago (I now think I really could have been D, then, too -- I found a lovely graph describing beta cell mass fluctuation in LADAs) ... I really do not think those numbers are inflated, either.

[Dan Gato]

Richard,
Do u know if the pre-D are included in those figures?

There are some people that are in denial, also some other
people that have symptoms but don't want to be told so they don't get a definite test. what do u think?

[Richard157]

You have made a good point. I think many people believe they may have diabetes but do not go to a doctor for fear of the diagnosis. Many of them post in the diabetes forums and ask us if we think they have diabetes and some of them freely admit they have not been to a doctor.

Only diabetics are included in the figures I quoted, not pre-diabetics.

[zoelula]

If those are the figures for the U.S., then the world figures including countries where few people have insurance and therefore don't have regular medical care, would be much higher for undiagnosed.

[EeyoreButterfly]

I wonder if it's because many doctors don't test when they should.

I have posted here numerous times about my first attempt at a diagnosis. I was ridiculed and even accused of lying. She never bothered to perform a single test. Even now, if we were to rely on the a1C or a fasting I would be given the all clear. It was only because my doc had me test for a week that we know that I have it. That, and the OGTT I asked for. To this day I wonder what would have happened if she had me test after eating (she had me testing before meals, not sure why) because I discovered not long after diagnosis that I was hitting well over 200 several times a week. Would she have diagnosed me as D instead of Pre-D?

There needs to be more awareness in the medical community of early symptoms- particularly reactive hypo.

[mazea]

I think the undiagnosed could come from the fact many GP's are very ignorant about diabetes. I don't know what they teach them in med school : ) but they must have been at the uni bar that day the diabetes lecture was on. I had a borderline fasting test and the doctor never said anything about it. The next doctor, a different one, 2 years later I saw wanted me to wait 4 months to see specialist and did not request me to come back to him when my blood sugar test came back 18mmol. The second doc actually laughed at me when I requested the blood sugar test because I was too young.

[Mothernature]

Can we blame people for the fear of diagnosis? Sure, we all know it is important to manage this disease. However, once one has the big D on their medical record, insurance companies will refuse to insure.

Then there is the fear of discrimination against the diabetic. If this did not exist, the big D would not be listed under the ADA.

Doctors are defintely a problem. Everyone should be tested for Diabetes as they for high blood pressure or cholesterol. We should make it easier for those who struggle to at least have the basics (strips, lancets, and meter for low costs). Unfortunately, the cost to eat correct with the D is quite expensive.

[Richard157]

I have posted this topic on several diabetes sites. One lady said her friend took part in a free screening at a drug sore and found he had very high blood sugar. Then he went to a doctor and was diagnosed. I wonder what would have happened to him if there had been no free screening.

Another person thought she was diabetic but did not see a doctor until she had insurance coverage so that it would not be a pre-existing condition and her application for insurance would be denied.

[Evermont]

I see a few different ways to slice and dice this topic. It's interesting to me that certain slices seem to be discussed much less often than others. Most I think have been at least touched on here on DF.

Here's one slice:

Diagnosis doesn't matter because it doesn't matter if you have diabetes. Well, of course it matters in some ways - but in one important way it doesn't. I say that whether you have diabetes, or you're pre-diabetic, or just have a couple risk factors, or none of the above... eat right and exercise, keep working to improve lifestyle. It's just a shame that a Dx of diabetes is what it takes for many of us to get with the program. Following this advice better than I did could prevent or delay diabetes. Wouldn't that be better than diagnosis?

[Mothernature]

I know a nurse who is a T2. She said most cancer patients are diabetics with high blood sugar. Many were diagnosed with diabetes when a full blood panel was done for their cancer diagnosis.

To me, this suggests a few scenarios.

1) People are not having regular physical exams and proper blood tests done for diagnosis of diabetes.

2) Diabetics do not understand or ignore the seriousness of their disease.

3) The monetary cost of Diabetes is just too much for some families.

I do agree that if there were healthier life style choices, the delay of this disease could be greater.

[Richard157]

Evermont, a T2D might think that way but a T1D would be headed to an early death since insulin is an absolute necessity. Eating properly, exercising, etc would do very little good for a T1D, without insulin.

[Evermont]

Originally Posted by Richard157

Evermont, a T2D might think that way but a T1D would be headed to an early death since insulin is an absolute necessity. Eating properly, exercising, etc would do very little good for a T1D, without insulin.

Richard, yeah - I know. T1's don't go undiagnosed very long usually.