Rapid progression from pre-diabetes to severely ill diabetes while under "expert care": Suggestions for improved screening for disease progression

Abstract

This article presented a case in which limitations in screening and inpatient ducation methods delayed the recognition that a patient had progressed from pre-diabetes to type 2 diabetes. The delay in diagnosis resulted in the patient experiencing severe acute complications of diabetes that required ICU management. It also delayed implementation of more aggressive therapies and efforts at lifestyle change to reverse the clinical course of his disease. To avoid such problems, clinicians should be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of various screening tests and may wish to implement the low-cost methods outlined above to identify and treat at earlier stages patients who are progressing from pre-diabetes to diabetes.