Diabetes screening recommendations

PEMBROKE PARK, Fla. – According to the CDC, more than 34-million Americans have diabetes which prompted the United States Preventive Services Task Force to update screening recommendations for Type-2 diabetes, and lower the age from 40 to 35 for those who are obese or overweight.

Clinicians are also advised to screen eligible patients every three years up to age 70.

Diabetes screening is done with a blood test.

If left untreated, diabetes can lead to blindness, may affect kidney function, damage nerves and can cause erectile dysfunction.

A new report finds the cost of birth complications in the U.S. during 2019 was $32.3 billion.

That covers from birth to the first five years of a child’s life.

The estimate works out to about $8,600 per mother and child, a figure that puts this health problem on par with the expenses for some chronic diseases such as diabetes.

A co-author said it’s a much bigger problem than many people realize and it’s getting worse.

An October study showed more people in the U.S. experienced pregnancy complications during the pandemic than in 2019.

And researchers with the University San Diego believe COVID-19 has now progressed out of pandemic stage and is classified and an ‘endemic’.

This means the virus can be experienced at all times, at all levels, but doesn’t make it any less serious.

In fact future variants of the virus are expected to be more aggressive, and could be compounded by the seasonal flu virus.


About the Authors:

Veteran journalist Kathleen Corso is the special projects producer for Local 10 News.

Eden Checkol co-anchors Local 10's 10 p.m. weeknight newscast on WSFL and also reports on WPLG newscasts. She’s a Minnesota native who is thrilled to leave the snow behind and call South Florida home.