One of the new buzz words going about these days is pre-diabetes. And for good reason. Pre-diabetes has become a serious health concern for our society in general.

The facts tell the story all to well. More than 18 million Americans live with diabetes every day, and that number is continuing to grow at a staggering pace. Even more alarming is the fact that 5 million people don't even know they have diabetes. In addition, roughly 41 million Americans have pre-diabetes, which left undetected and untreated, progresses into full-blown diabetes.

So, how do you know if you need tested for pre-diabetes and how do you know if you have it?

One of the main problems with diabetes is that many times you may have it and it won't even know it. As a human we generally wait to go see a doctor until we have a medical problem. It usually takes a pain, cut, or sickness that affects us severely before we head off to see a doctor. It's just the way we are.

This presents a major problem in knowing if you have pre-diabetes. You may have the tell-tale symptoms such as frequent thirst, urination and unexplained weight loss or gain, but you don't realize it is a sign. Therefore, it can be damaging your body without you knowing it. Diabetes is a slow developing disease, but if it's not caught in time it can be catastrophic.

The good news with all of this is that you can likely prevent the onset of diabetes with early detection and the right care. Don't wait until you don't feel right to be checked out. Ask your doctor, if they haven't already recommended it during a routine physical, to have your blood sugar checked. It's very quick, very simple, and is not painful.

Your doctor can find out if you have pre-diabetes by doing a glucose test. It requires you to fast overnight and not eat anything until after the doctor checks your blood sugar level. The fasting glucose test is done with a simple blood test. The results should be available to you within a day or two at most. An even easier quick test is with a finger stick and putting it in a blood glucose tester. It gives results in 5 seconds.

Diabetes is a very serious health issue. Please, don't wait until it's too late. Have yourself checked at least every six months and keep yourself on the road to good health.