New Diabetes Guidelines Call for Earlier Screening

It's estimated that 16 million Americans suffer from diabetes. What's alarming is the fact that one-third of them don't know even know they have it. Now, new guidelines are recommending people at high risk be screened starting at age 30 for diabetes. Dr. Rhoda Cobin is the president the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE). She joined the Early Show to talk about the new guidelines.

Diabetes is often called the "silent killer" because the symptoms go undetected for years. The disease is striking more and more younger people. Yesterday, in Washington, DC, the American College of Endocrinology (ACE) and the AACE lowered the recommended screening age for "high risk" people from 45 to 30 years old.

They also agreed on a new term for a test that's considered the "gold standard" for measuring blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. The changes should help prevent the progression of a disease that some experts say has reached epidemic proportions in this country.
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