Annals of Internal Medicine is published by the American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine (ACP-ASIM), an organization of more than 115,000 internal medicine physicians and medical students. The following highlights are not intended to substitute for articles as sources of information. For an embargoed fax of an article, call 1-800-523-1546, ext. 2656 or 215-351-2656.

Two Studies on Diabetes in Today's Annals of Internal Medicine

Type 2 or adult-onset diabetes is a major problem in the United States. Sixteen million people have the disease and these numbers are growing alarmingly. Diabetes is a serious health problem, with disastrous consequences: it can cause blindness, kidney failure, nerve damage and heart disease. Cost of treating diabetes and its consequences is estimated at $100 billion per year.

An Easier Way to Predict Diabetes Than the Oral Glucose Tolerance Test?

A simple mathematical model, using readily available clinical measurements, predicted who would get type 2 diabetes as well as the standard glucose tolerance test did (Article, p. 575). The model used information on a person's age, sex, ethnicity, and family history of diabetes (factors that cannot be changed) and clinical factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and body weight (factors that can be changed by lifestyle changes or drug therapy). An alternative for the oral glucose tolerance test is good news for many reasons: type 2 -- or adult diabetes -- can be prevented with lifestyle changes or drug therapy, so identifying people likely to develop diabetes offers the chance to intervene and prevent the disease, and the standard glucose tolerance test is inconvenient and relatively expensive.

Report Card on Diabetes Care in the United States: Barely a Passing Grade

There is a big gap between recommended care for diabetes and the care patients actually get in the United Stat
'"/>

Contact: Penny Fuller
pfuller@mail.acponline.org
215-351-2656
American College of Physicians
15-Apr-2002