Another way at looking at risk for diabetes is to look at where you live and consider the epidemic of diabetes in your part of the world.

In terms of pure numbers the three countries with the biggest problems are India, China and the USA. With more than 100 million people with Type 2 diabetes between them already, these countries will be having their healthcare budgets severely strained even without the increasing numbers of people diagnosed with pre-diabetes.

In respect of countries with smaller populations there can still be enormous health burdens presented by the significant percentages of people with Type 2 diabetes and pre-diabetes within their populations.

In the Middle East for example, countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and the UAE are already having to deal with unprecedented numbers of patients entering acute care hospitals with myocardial infarction and stroke. These conditions in turn are strongly associated with their high prevalence of diabetes.