During the past 25 years, cardiovascular (CV) and renal risks and disease have become highly prevalent in adults with prediabetes, irrespective of the definitions used, according to a recent study. Researchers analyzed cross-sectional survey data from non-pregnant adults aged ≥20 years (n=27,971) from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) survey periods: 1988–1994, 1999–2004, 2005–2010, and 2011–2014. They found;

• In 2011–2014, in the population of adults with prediabetes, 36.6% had hypertension, 51.2% had dyslipidemia, 24.3% smoked, 7.7% had albuminuria, 4.6% had reduced eGFR, and 10-year CV event risk ranged from 5% to 7%.
• From 1988–1994 to 2011–2014, adults with prediabetes showed significant increases in hypertension, no change in dyslipidemia, decreases in smoking, increased use of treatment to lower blood pressure and to reduce lipids, and increased goal achievements for blood pressure and lipids.
• People with prediabetes also showed decreases in CV risk, but no change in prevalence of albuminuria, reduced eGFR, myocardial infarction, or stroke.
• Compared with adults with prediabetes, adults with diagnosed diabetes showed much larger improvements in CV and renal risk treatments, apart from smoking, which did not decline.