Diabetes – don’t let this dangerous chronic disease destroy your life. Assess your risk now and take preventive action if necessary.

There are three major types of diabetes: type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and gestational diabetes. All three types of diabetes share the same basic characteristic -- the body's inability either to make or to use insulin. Your body needs insulin, a hormone, to be able to use glucose, which comes from the food you eat, for energy. Without enough insulin, glucose stays in the blood, creating high levels of blood sugar. Over time, this build up causes damage to your kidneys, heart, nerves, eyes, and other organs.
Diabetes has reached epidemic proportions and become a major health problem in many countries throughout the world. The number of adults with diabetes worldwide has more than doubled since 1980 to 347 million. It is estimated to be four times as common as all forms of cancer combined.
In the US, 25.8 million people (8.3% of the population) have diabetes. Of these, 7.0 million have undiagnosed diabetes. In 2010, about 1.9 million new cases of diabetes were diagnosed in people aged 20 years or older.
Some 2.8m people in the UK have been diagnosed with diabetes and an estimated 850,000 more probably have type 2 diabetes but don't yet know. Another 7m are classified as high-risk of developing diabetes.

Many individuals are currently at risk of developing type 2 diabetes because of lifestyle and other factors. Are you one of them?

Asses your risk by answering a few simple questions.

Individuals at risk can take preventive action now (see app for details) that will significantly reduce their chances of developing this dangerous chronic disease.