Diabetes Risk Calculator
Diabetes, affecting millions globally, demands careful management. Fortunately, tools like the Diabetes Risk Calculator enable us to assess our diabetes risk, facilitating early intervention.
In this blog, we’ll explore the significance of the Diabetes Risk Calculator for diabetes screening and how it contributes to better health outcomes.
What is Diabetes?
It is a condition which is developed as a result of several factors that are mainly characterized by hyperglycemia, which means the sugar levels found in your body are abnormally higher than usual.
Following are the 3 types of diabetes:
- Type 1 diabetes (insulin-dependent diabetes)
- Type 2 diabetes (non-insulin-dependent diabetes)
- Gestational diabetes (occurs in pregnant women)
Understanding diabetes risk
The most commonly found diabetes is the Type 2 diabetes which, these days, is surprisingly common young adults too! This is because this type of diabetes majorly depends on your lifestyle choices, especially your food choices.
Hence, it is extremely important to eat healthy and exercise and keep a check on your sugar intake. Furthermore, cutting down on habits like smoking and drinking also contributes to your heart health and maintaining your blood pressure.
Evaluating your diabetes risk is a crucial step in managing your health, and that’s where the Diabetes Risk Calculator comes in.
Here are a few symptoms of Type 2 diabetes that would be useful in determining if you need to take the test:-
- Frequent urination
- Increased thirst
- Fatigue
- Sudden weight loss
- Itching around the genitals
- Slow healing cuts or wounds
- Blurred vision
How the Diabetes Risk Calculator works
Our Diabetes Risk Calculator is designed to provide you with a diagnosis on your diabetic health.
This diabetes test enables you to determine your risk to developing type 2 diabetes over the next 5-7 years and what this does is, alert you in time to take the necessary precautions in order to get your insulin levels in check.
This can be done with the help of diet changes, a doctor’s consultation and medication if needed. If you feel you’re at a diabetes risk, consider getting a diabetes screening done at a clinic/hospital.
The calculator takes into consideration these important details to draw an analysis and come to a conclusion:-
- Age
- Sex
- BMI
- Family history of diabetes (FMH)
- Hypertension History (HTN)
- Physical Activity (how active your body is)
The calculator then comes up with a BMI score in the process which contributes as BMI Points to your Diabetes Risk Score calculation.
Age is expressed as follows:-
- Age < 40 years noted as 0
- Age 40-49 years noted as 1
- Age 50 - 59 years noted as 2
- Age ≥ 60 years noted as 3
- The person’s sex noted with the value of 0 for females and 1 for males.
- Physical activity denoted by -1
- History of hypertension denoted by 1
- BMI calculated with weight, age and height inputs
- Your family history of diabetes is represented by the value of 1 if at least one parent or sibling has diabetes.
Following is the equation used to derive your final risk score :-
Diabetes Risk Score = BMIP + Age + Sex + FMH + Physical Activity + HTN
- A score of 4 or more indicates increased risk of pre-diabetes or undiagnosed diabetes.
- A score of 5 or more indicates increased risk of undiagnosed diabetes.
Once you put in all the inputs, our diabetes risk test calculator will get to task and deliver results which will help you determine your diabetes risk score which will then help you decide your next visit to the doctor’s.
In all likelihood, these results would need a second opinion from a medical expert but it provides you with a start-line. You get enough inputs and data to present to your doctor, fast-tracking your process of medical guidance.
It is important to bear in mind that this is an app-driven result and cannot be treated as your full and final diagnosis. It would be great to look at it as a temporary health-check tool that lets you know if you’re doing okay or invokes a wake-up call for you to take your health more seriously.
Taking action: preventive measures
Your risk score prompts action:
- Low Risk: Maintain a healthy lifestyle with exercise and a balanced diet.
- Moderate Risk: Make positive changes in consultation with a healthcare professional.
- High Risk: Seek immediate guidance for a comprehensive risk management plan.
Conclusion
Studies suggest that millions of young adults have prediabetes and many of them end up arriving at the later stages due to failure of early diagnosis. It is essential that you take charge of your health and figure out early on, if there is anything that needs to be treated.
One of the most important things to consider if you’re obese or overweight is losing weight as this decreases your chances of diabetes significantly - by as much as 60 percent! Excessive weight-loss can have negative results, hence it is important to maintain a healthy BMI. Eat foods that are good for diabetic health:-
- Include fruits and leafy vegetables.
- Eat lean protein.
- Choose foods with less added sugar.
- Avoid trans fats.
- Eat fewer processed foods
The Diabetes Risk Calculator helps you assess your risk, enabling early intervention and preventive measures. Regular diabetes screening and professional guidance pave the way to a healthier future. Prioritize your health and use the Diabetes Risk Calculator as your stepping stone.
