By increasing the number of people who finish testing and come to know if they would ever get diabetes, diabetes prevention can be improved by a simpler form of testing individuals with risk factors for diabetes.

In America, as of now, there are about 60 million people or one-third of the adult population, who are pre-diabetic. It is expected that in about one decade, 30 per cent of these individuals will develop Type 2 diabetes and it is felt that many of them still do not know that they fall in the high-risk zone of this disease.

It has been reported that pre-diabetes can be figured out by a hemoglobin A1c test, a common blood test that can be quickly administered in a physician's office.

Over the past eight to 12 weeks, the A1c test measures average blood glucose level and it does not require another test after an overnight fast.

Researchers led by Ronald T. Ackermann, M. D., M. P. H., associate professor of medicine at the Indiana University School of Medicine and a Regenstrief Institute affiliated scientist, report that pre-diabetes can also be pinpointed by the A1c blood test, which has been routinely administered to diabetic patients for many years.

Dr. Ackermann said, "Identifying more individuals with pre-diabetes through a simple test in a physician's office gives us a real opportunity to halt progression to the disease, which is clearly a win-win situation."