The American Diabetes Association reports 34.2 million Americans have diabetes, while 88 million American adults have pre-diabetes. Due to these rising numbers, the US Preventive Services Task Force is now recommending screening patients for pre-diabetes earlier. The new recommendation emphasizes the need to screen for pre-diabetes in all adults between the ages of 35 and 70 who are overweight or have obesity, even if they have no symptoms of type 2 diabetes. The starting age use to be 40 but was lowered to five years earlier. “These changes allow for earlier detection, diagnosis and more treatment options, ultimately improving health outcomes,” said the USPSTF.

What causes diabetes?

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, diabetes develops when the body cannot make enough insulin or use it properly. Insulin is a hormone that helps regulate blood glucose levels, and without a sufficient amount working properly, health complications can occur. There are several types of diabetes that can result from genetics or lifestyle choices.

Type 1 diabetes is believed to be an autoimmune condition. This means your immune system mistakenly attacks and stops your body from making insulin. It isn’t clear why this happens but there may be both genetic and environmental reasons.

Type 2 diabetes starts as insulin resistance. This means your body doesn’t use insulin well and can’t keep blood sugar at normal levels. Contributing factors may include genetics, lack of exercise, or being overweight.

Gestational diabetes is due to insulin-blocking hormones produced during pregnancy. This type of diabetes only occurs during pregnancy and usually goes away after your baby is born. However, it does increase your risk for type 2 diabetes later in life.

What are the symptoms?

Diabetes symptoms will vary depending on the type and cause but may include:

• fatigue
• blurred vision
• increased thirst and urination
• hunger
• numbness in the hands and feet
• persistent sores
• unexpected weight loss

Diabetes can also lead to serious health complications without treatment, such as heart disease or stroke.

Prevention

There’s no known prevention for type 1 diabetes but there are some steps you can take to help limit your chances of getting type 2. You can lower your risk if you:

• control your weight and manage your diet
• exercise regularly
• avoid smoking
• talk to your doctor

GREENVILLE, SC September 23, 2020  – At the onset of the pandemic the nation began to practice social distancing, and subsequently, many stopped scheduling visits with their doctors. Laboratories like Premier Medical Laboratory Services suddenly pivoted much of their efforts into providing a high volume of testing for COVID-19. Now, as more businesses and schools have reopened, less of the population has continued to practice extreme social distancing measures. Accordingly, more patients are visiting their physicians’ offices again for routine check-ups and other healthcare needs other than the Coronavirus.

With this, PMLS, recently named one of the Top Genetic Diagnostic Companies of 2020, says that they are beginning to see a rise in demand for tests that they offer to address various medical diagnostic needs aside from COVID-19. Some of these tests included are their pharmacogenomics, advanced cardiovascular testing, and their women’s health & wellness and diabetes panels.

“We are continuing to process up to 50,000 COVID-19 tests per day, but are glad to see an increase in orders for the other tests we provide,” said Kevin Murdock founder of Premier Medical Laboratory Services. “We know that our tests offer vital insight to physicians so that they can best plan the proper care for their patients.”

Including their portfolio of COVID-19 assays, all of PMLS’ tests processed at their 40,000 sqft laboratory are performed with the latest in science and technology to provide the most advanced and comprehensive testing results. For example, PMLS’s MDDiabeticPro panel includes the revolutionary DIABETESpredict test, which is a first of its kind predictive genetic test for type 2 diabetes developed in collaboration with world leading doctors and scientists of Harvard and MIT. The DIABETESpredict test is expected to mark a new era in diabetes prevention and care through evaluating the risk of the disease onset by examining individual genetic profiles and is currently only available to the US through PMLS.

PMLS’s cardiovascular panel, MDHeartPro, offers a more complete look at a patient’s cardiovascular health than the standard lipid profile that is commonly ordered.  In addition to the standard lipid panel, MDHeartPro includes tests that identify plaque buildup, lipid particle size, hereditary factors, and other advanced risk factors.

At PMLS’s fully COLA and CLIA regulated laboratory many of their processes are automated with cutting-edge laboratory equipment. Using a cloud based-laboratory information management system, OnGen, PMLS communicates real-time results to physicians directly from their lab equipment. Because of this, PMLS is able to process hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 tests per month while increasing the testing capacity for their other molecular diagnostic offerings without compromising accuracy or their quick turnaround time of results.