finger-stick blood test for diabetes.
The researchers ended up testing 290 men. Their average body mass index (BMI) was 29.3. BMI is a rough estimate of body fat based on height and weight measurements. A BMI between 24.9 and 29.9 is considered overweight. A BMI of 30 or more is considered obese.
Of those who had undiagnosed diabetes, about 62% were obese, the study found. The average age of the men with undiagnosed diabetes was 41.
More than half of the men who didn’t take the test were willing to tell the researchers why. About half said they knew their health status or had been checked by their doctor, and 35% said they were healthy or they didn’t want to know their status. Eight percent said they were afraid of needles, Lee’s team noted.
“The symptoms of type 2 diabetes are relatively few. A lot of people feel fine and think they’re healthy. Other research has shown that if you find diabetes from a screening test rather than symptoms, you’ll have half the premature mortality rate than those who find out later,” Lee said.
“I usually meet people late in the disease process at the [emergency department]. We need to start