A condition in which blood glucose levels are elevated, but not
yet within the diabetic range. Prediabetes is also known as
impaired fasting glucose (IFG) or impaired glucose tolerance
(IGT). The new term was inaugurated by the U.S. Department of
Health and Human Services (HHS) and the American Diabetes
Association (ADA) in March 2002 to promote public understanding
of this increasingly widespread problem. According to HHS,
nearly 57 million Americans have prediabetes. Studies have shown
that most people with blood glucose levels in the prediabetes
range go on to develop Type 2 diabetes within 10 years; the
condition also raises the risk of having a heart attack or
stroke by 50%. Prediabetes can be controlled, and in many cases
even reversed, through lifestyle changes. Prediabetes can be
detected by either of the two standard tests currently used to
diagnose diabetes. In the fasting plasma glucose test (FPG), a
person fasts overnight and then has blood drawn for testing
first thing in the morning, before he e