March 25th will mark the 20th anniversary of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Diabetes Alert Day, a time designed to raise awareness on diabetes and its risks.

“Alert Day is a one-day call to action to encourage those at risk for developing type 2 diabetes or those with loved ones at risk to take the Diabetes Risk Test and, if they score high, to schedule an appointment to see their healthcare provider,”  says a statement on the ADA’s Web site.

Diabetes is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States. There are some 21 million Americans living with this disease, with 6.2 million not even knowing that they have it. To make things even worse, an additional 54 million Americans have pre-diabetes, placing them at high risk for developing type 2 diabetes.

The ADA estimates there will be nearly 50.2 million people with diabetes by 2025, especially that obesity epidemic continues to spread. Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce or properly use insulin. Insulin is a hormone that is needed to change sugar, starches and other food into energy needed for daily life. There are four types of diabetes: Type 1, type 2, gestational (pregnant women) and pre-diabetes.

People can live with type 2 diabetes for years before they know they have it. The condition doesn’t have visible symptoms from the beginning. That’s the reason why, people see a physician only when significant damage is done to their eyesight, heart or kidneys. Visible symptoms are frequent urination, blurred vision and excessive thirst, but people with type 2 diabetes do not show these clear warning signs at the time they develop the disease. That’s why some people are not diagnosed with the disease until 7 to 10 years after onset, the American Diabetes Association warns.

Type 2 diabetes is often diagnosed when people develop one of the disease’s serious complications, such as heart attack, kidney failure, blindness or nerve damage that can lead to amputations.

 Diabetes risk factors include being overweight, sedentary, persons with a family history of diabetes and women who have babies with a birth weight of greater than nine pounds.

Diabetes is more common in African Americans, Latinos, Native Americans, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders.

American Alert Day is a wakeup call to inform people about the seriousness of the disease and encourage them to get tested by their health care providers to see if they are at risk for developing diabetes.

To be sure you don’t have the disease, make sure you get the American Diabetes Risk Test these days, a test that asks seven simple questions about weight, age, lifestyle and family history. This free test is available by calling 1-800-DIABETES or going online at www.diabetes.org/alert. People scoring 10 points or more are at a high risk for type 2 diabetes and are strongly encouraged to see a health care professional for further evaluation.

Discovering diabetes in its early stages means better treatments, better chances of living longer with it and of course better rates of survival.